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Comets » 

Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma

Below the horizon.  Rise: 1:59 | Tran: 6:49 | Set: 11:40
Alt: -34.66°   Az: 64.74°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 2,122,270,670.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 56m 24s and the Declination is -13° 04’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is 28.26 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma in Libra on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma in Libra on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

38P/Stephan-Oterma
RA: 15h 55m 00s
Dec: -13° 00’ 32”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 56m 24s
-13° 04’ 52”
15h 19m 09s
07h 15m 33s

J2000

15h 55m 00s
-13° 00’ 32”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
28.26

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 103.1°
Max altitude: 25.4°
Azimuth: 256.9°
  • 38P/Stephan-Oterma is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 38P/Stephan-Oterma is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma from Earth is currently 2,122,270,670.0 kilometers, equivalent to 14.1865031907 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 57m 59.133s to travel from Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma and arrive to us.

2,122,270,670.0
14.1865031907
1h 57m 59.133s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma to Earth happens on Mon Dec 17 2018 at a distance of 0.765727 Astronomical Units, or 114,551,108 kilometers:

Mon Dec 17 2018
114,551,108
0.765727

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma at epoch 27 May 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458266.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.85928734
Orbit inclination i 18.35295008°
Perihelion distance q 1.58850911 AU
237,637,581 km
Aphelion distance Q 20.98954679 AU
3,139,991,513 km
Semi-major axis a 11.28902795 AU
1,688,814,547 km
Orbital period period 37.9309 years
13,854.2573 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-Nov-10 23:41:26
2,458,433.4871 JD
Next perihelion transit 2056-Oct-16 05:51
2,472,287.7444 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 359.58851167059°
Longitude of the ascending node node 78.000299016178°
Mean anomaly M 355.66087469768°
Mean motion n 0.02598479°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma
View Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Jan 30 15h 55m 31s -13° 05’ 02” 28.26 Libra
2025 Jan 31 15h 55m 38s -13° 05’ 05” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 01 15h 55m 46s -13° 05’ 06” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 02 15h 55m 53s -13° 05’ 07” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 03 15h 55m 59s -13° 05’ 05” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 04 15h 56m 06s -13° 05’ 03” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 05 15h 56m 12s -13° 05’ 01” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 06 15h 56m 18s -13° 04’ 57” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 07 15h 56m 24s -13° 04’ 52” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 08 15h 56m 29s -13° 04’ 45” 28.26 Libra
2025 Feb 09 15h 56m 34s -13° 04’ 38” 28.25 Libra
2025 Feb 10 15h 56m 39s -13° 04’ 31” 28.25 Libra
2025 Feb 11 15h 56m 43s -13° 04’ 22” 28.25 Libra
2025 Feb 12 15h 56m 48s -13° 04’ 12” 28.25 Libra

Additional Resources