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public  Piracuruca, Brasile Piracuruca, Brasile  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Fortaleza
Sunrise: 5:55 
Transit: 11:51 
Sunset: 17:47
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Comets » 

Comet 40P/Vaisala

Below the horizon.  Rise: 6:58 | Tran: 12:51 | Set: 18:44
Alt: -33.41°   Az: 68.63°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 40P/Vaisala is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of 478,792,864.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 07h 55m 09s and the Declination is +19° 56’ 53” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 40P/Vaisala, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 18.83).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 40P/Vaisala in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 40P/Vaisala in the constellation of Gemini on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 40P/Vaisala in the constellation of Gemini on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 40P/Vaisala against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

40P/Vaisala
RA: 07h 53m 39s
Dec: +20° 00’ 58”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 40P/Vaisala. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

07h 55m 09s
+19° 56’ 53”
15h 43m 09s
23h 38m 18s

J2000

07h 53m 39s
+20° 00’ 58”

Additional Information

Gemini
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.83

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 40P/Vaisala from Piracuruca, Brasile (all times relative to the local timezone America/Fortaleza):

Azimuth: 70.1°
Max altitude: 66.1°
Azimuth: 289.9°

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 40P/Vaisala from Earth is currently 478,792,864.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.2005326129 Astronomical Units. Light takes 26m 37.081s to travel from comet 40P/Vaisala and arrive to us.

478,792,864.0
3.2005326129
26m 37.081s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 40P/Vaisala from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 40P/Vaisala from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 40P/Vaisala from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 40P/Vaisala to Earth will happen on Monday 24 March 2070 at a distance of 0.879464 Astronomical Units, or 131,565,973 kilometers:

Monday 24 March 2070
131,565,973
0.879464

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 40P/Vaisala, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 40P/Vaisala as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 40P/Vaisala at epoch February, 08 2003 00:00 UTC (JD: 2452679.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.63293806
Orbit inclination i 11.53901793°
Perihelion distance q 1.79533024 AU
268,577,582 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.98683486 AU
1,194,813,491 km
Semi-major axis a 4.89108255 AU
731,695,536 km
Orbital period period 10.8172 years
3,950.9899 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp January 22, 2004
2,453,027.4939 JD
Next perihelion transit November 16, 2014
2,456,978.4838 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 47.239001951896°
Longitude of the ascending node node 134.73589970998°
Mean anomaly M 328.2920465776°
Mean motion n 0.09111641°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 40P/Vaisala relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 40P/Vaisala 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
Jun 26 2025 07h 39m 19s +20° 15’ 45” 18.94 Gemini
Jun 27 2025 07h 41m 27s +20° 13’ 33” 18.93 Gemini
Jun 28 2025 07h 43m 36s +20° 11’ 14” 18.91 Gemini
Jun 29 2025 07h 45m 45s +20° 08’ 48” 18.90 Gemini
Jun 30 2025 07h 47m 55s +20° 06’ 14” 18.88 Gemini
Jul 01 2025 07h 50m 05s +20° 03’ 33” 18.86 Gemini
Jul 02 2025 07h 52m 16s +20° 00’ 45” 18.85 Gemini
Jul 03 2025 07h 54m 27s +19° 57’ 50” 18.83 Gemini
Jul 04 2025 07h 56m 39s +19° 54’ 47” 18.82 Gemini
Jul 05 2025 07h 58m 51s +19° 51’ 37” 18.80 Gemini
Jul 06 2025 08h 01m 03s +19° 48’ 20” 18.79 Gemini
Jul 07 2025 08h 03m 16s +19° 44’ 55” 18.77 Cancer
Jul 08 2025 08h 05m 29s +19° 41’ 22” 18.75 Cancer
Jul 09 2025 08h 07m 41s +19° 37’ 43” 18.74 Cancer

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