Comet 378P/McNaught
Comet 378P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Aquarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 378P/McNaught is 23h 51m 41s and the Declination is -19° 29’ 02” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught is 19.31 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 378P/McNaught [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 378P/McNaught is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- Given its current magnitude, 378P/McNaught is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 378P/McNaught rise and set times.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Additional information about Comet 378P/McNaught available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 378P/McNaught Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 378P/McNaught finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 378P/McNaught is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Comet 378P/McNaught?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 378P/McNaught in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 378P/McNaught Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 378P/McNaught from Earth is currently 727,585,376 kilometers, equivalent to 4.863608 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40 minutes and 26.9636 seconds to travel from Comet 378P/McNaught and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 378P/McNaught from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 378P/McNaught from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 378P/McNaught to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 378P/McNaught to Earth happens on Fri Jul 11 2036 at a distance of 2.340040 Astronomical Units, or 350,064,992 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 378P/McNaught brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught is 19.31.
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 378P/McNaught, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Comet 378P/McNaught rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 378P/McNaught rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 378P/McNaught touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 378P/McNaught Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 378P/McNaught at epoch 04 August 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456874.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.46516689 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 19.13554832° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 3.37958025 AU 505,578,010 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
9.25830692 AU 1,385,023,004 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
6.31894358 AU 945,300,507 km |
| Orbital period | period |
15.8846 years 5,801.8319 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2020-Oct-31 07:04:51 2,459,153.7950 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2036-Sep-19 03:02 2,464,955.6270 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 194.66892766° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 94.602172999472° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 218.57118514072° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.06204937°/day |
Visualization of Comet 378P/McNaught Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 378P/McNaught with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 378P/McNaught and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet 378P/McNaught in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 378P/McNaught 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 378P/McNaught computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 378P/McNaught in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Jan 11 | 23h 45m 57s | -20° 24’ 51” | 19.26 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 12 | 23h 46m 45s | -20° 16’ 55” | 19.26 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 13 | 23h 47m 34s | -20° 09’ 02” | 19.27 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 14 | 23h 48m 21s | -20° 01’ 05” | 19.28 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 15 | 23h 49m 10s | -19° 53’ 11” | 19.29 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 16 | 23h 49m 59s | -19° 45’ 15” | 19.30 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 17 | 23h 50m 48s | -19° 37’ 19” | 19.31 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 18 | 23h 51m 38s | -19° 29’ 25” | 19.31 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 19 | 23h 52m 28s | -19° 21’ 29” | 19.32 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 20 | 23h 53m 20s | -19° 13’ 32” | 19.33 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 21 | 23h 54m 10s | -19° 05’ 36” | 19.34 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 22 | 23h 55m 00s | -18° 57’ 42” | 19.35 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 23 | 23h 55m 53s | -18° 49’ 45” | 19.36 | Aquarius |
| 2022 Jan 24 | 23h 56m 44s | -18° 41’ 51” | 19.36 | Cetus |