Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma Position
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension is 12h 56m 35s and the Declination is +09° 16’ 22”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma Distance
The distance of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma from Earth is currently 737,605,727 kilometers, equivalent to 4.930590 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41 minutes and 0.3879 seconds to travel from Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma to Earth happens on Mon Dec 17 2018 at a distance of 0.76572685 Astronomical Units, or 114,551,106 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is 21.19.
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 behvior 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma, 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma at epoch 16 May 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458255.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.85928445 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 18.35294757° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.58849766 AU 237,635,868 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
20.98893059 AU 3,139,899,330 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
11.28871412 AU 1,688,767,599 km |
| Orbital period | period |
37.9300 years 13,853.6796 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2018-Nov-10 23:42:23 2,458,433.4878 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2056-Oct-15 16:01 2,472,287.1674 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 359.58896617284° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 78.00048546655° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 355.37483191825° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.02598588°/day |
Visualization of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma 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 38P/Stephan-Oterma in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Oct 08 | 12h 48m 42s | +10° 04’ 28” | 21.09 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 09 | 12h 49m 45s | +09° 57’ 52” | 21.11 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 10 | 12h 50m 48s | +09° 51’ 20” | 21.12 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 11 | 12h 51m 51s | +09° 44’ 52” | 21.13 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 12 | 12h 52m 54s | +09° 38’ 26” | 21.14 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 13 | 12h 53m 57s | +09° 32’ 06” | 21.15 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 14 | 12h 55m 00s | +09° 25’ 47” | 21.17 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 15 | 12h 56m 03s | +09° 19’ 33” | 21.18 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 16 | 12h 57m 05s | +09° 13’ 23” | 21.19 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 17 | 12h 58m 06s | +09° 07’ 17” | 21.20 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 18 | 12h 59m 08s | +09° 01’ 14” | 21.21 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 19 | 13h 00m 10s | +08° 55’ 15” | 21.23 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 20 | 13h 01m 10s | +08° 49’ 20” | 21.24 | Virgo |
| 2019 Oct 21 | 13h 02m 12s | +08° 43’ 28” | 21.25 | Virgo |