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Comet 398P/Boattini

Above the horizon.  Rise: 6:30 | Tran: 10:53 | Set: 15:17
Alt: 20.44°   Az: 187.73°   Direction: South

Comet 398P/Boattini is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 739,394,370.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 32m 48s and the Declination is -17° 45’ 26” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 398P/Boattini is 25.12 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 398P/Boattini in Capricornus on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 398P/Boattini in Capricornus on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 398P/Boattini is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

398P/Boattini
RA: 20h 31m 22s
Dec: -17° 50’ 36”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 398P/Boattini. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 398P/Boattini?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 398P/Boattini in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 32m 48s
-17° 45’ 26”
00h 30m 26s
21h 03m 14s

J2000

20h 31m 22s
-17° 50’ 36”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.12

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 398P/Boattini from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 107.8°
Max altitude: 20.8°
Azimuth: 252.3°
  • 398P/Boattini is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South direction at an altitude of 20.44° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 398P/Boattini 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 398P/Boattini from Earth is currently 739,394,370.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9425460840 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41m 6.354s to travel from Comet 398P/Boattini and arrive to us.

739,394,370.0
4.9425460840
41m 6.354s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 398P/Boattini 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 398P/Boattini 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 398P/Boattini 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 398P/Boattini to Earth happens on Wed Dec 23 2020 at a distance of 0.375438 Astronomical Units, or 56,164,772 kilometers:

Wed Dec 23 2020
56,164,772
0.375438

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 398P/Boattini, 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 398P/Boattini as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 398P/Boattini at epoch 16 December 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459200.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.58256817
Orbit inclination i 11.01527054°
Perihelion distance q 1.30569341 AU
195,328,954 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.95014681 AU
740,531,424 km
Semi-major axis a 3.12792011 AU
467,930,189 km
Orbital period period 5.5321 years
2,020.6072 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2020-Dec-26 17:51:58
2,459,210.2444 JD
Next perihelion transit 2026-Jul-09 08:26
2,461,230.8517 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 320.23471164812°
Longitude of the ascending node node 127.46296718978°
Mean anomaly M 358.26389165887°
Mean motion n 0.17816426°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 398P/Boattini
View Comet 398P/Boattini in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 398P/Boattini 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 Feb 07 20h 24m 39s -18° 08’ 27” 25.18 Capricornus
2025 Feb 08 20h 25m 45s -18° 05’ 27” 25.18 Capricornus
2025 Feb 09 20h 26m 51s -18° 02’ 25” 25.17 Capricornus
2025 Feb 10 20h 27m 55s -17° 59’ 22” 25.16 Capricornus
2025 Feb 11 20h 29m 01s -17° 56’ 18” 25.15 Capricornus
2025 Feb 12 20h 30m 06s -17° 53’ 12” 25.14 Capricornus
2025 Feb 13 20h 31m 12s -17° 50’ 05” 25.14 Capricornus
2025 Feb 14 20h 32m 17s -17° 46’ 56” 25.13 Capricornus
2025 Feb 15 20h 33m 22s -17° 43’ 46” 25.12 Capricornus
2025 Feb 16 20h 34m 27s -17° 40’ 36” 25.11 Capricornus
2025 Feb 17 20h 35m 33s -17° 37’ 23” 25.10 Capricornus
2025 Feb 18 20h 36m 37s -17° 34’ 10” 25.09 Capricornus
2025 Feb 19 20h 37m 42s -17° 30’ 57” 25.09 Capricornus
2025 Feb 20 20h 38m 47s -17° 27’ 42” 25.08 Capricornus

Additional Resources