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Comets » 

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:38 | Tran: 9:01 | Set: 15:25
Alt: -4.64°   Az: 76.09°   Direction: South-West

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 833,949,426.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 18m 15s and the Declination is +05° 48’ 44” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 23.82).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak in the constellation of Cetus 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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.

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak
RA: 02h 16m 55s
Dec: +05° 41’ 43”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

02h 18m 15s
+05° 48’ 44”
17h 06m 06s
19h 24m 22s

J2000

02h 16m 55s
+05° 41’ 43”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.82

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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak from Pöttelsdorf, Austria (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Vienna):

Azimuth: 84.2°
Max altitude: 48.1°
Azimuth: 275.8°

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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak from Earth is currently 833,949,426.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.5746075937 Astronomical Units. Light takes 46m 21.756s to travel from comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak and arrive to us.

833,949,426.0
5.5746075937
46m 21.756s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak to Earth happened on Saturday 1 April 2017 at a distance of 0.141998 Astronomical Units, or 21,242,660 kilometers:

Saturday 1 April 2017
21,242,660
0.141998

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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak at epoch April, 13 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457857.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.66127330
Orbit inclination i 9.22846574°
Perihelion distance q 1.04504276 AU
156,336,171 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.12537585 AU
766,745,315 km
Semi-major axis a 3.08520930 AU
461,540,743 km
Orbital period period 5.4192 years
1,979.3627 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp April 12, 2017
2,457,856.2530 JD
Next perihelion transit September 13, 2022
2,459,835.6157 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 62.16674348896°
Longitude of the ascending node node 141.05897236084°
Mean anomaly M 0.22680168832125°
Mean motion n 0.18187673°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 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 17 2025 02h 14m 16s +05° 37’ 03” 23.86 Cetus
Jun 18 2025 02h 14m 51s +05° 38’ 52” 23.86 Cetus
Jun 19 2025 02h 15m 26s +05° 40’ 39” 23.85 Cetus
Jun 20 2025 02h 16m 00s +05° 42’ 22” 23.85 Cetus
Jun 21 2025 02h 16m 34s +05° 44’ 03” 23.84 Cetus
Jun 22 2025 02h 17m 08s +05° 45’ 39” 23.83 Cetus
Jun 23 2025 02h 17m 42s +05° 47’ 13” 23.83 Cetus
Jun 24 2025 02h 18m 15s +05° 48’ 44” 23.82 Cetus
Jun 25 2025 02h 18m 47s +05° 50’ 10” 23.82 Cetus
Jun 26 2025 02h 19m 20s +05° 51’ 34” 23.81 Cetus
Jun 27 2025 02h 19m 51s +05° 52’ 55” 23.81 Cetus
Jun 28 2025 02h 20m 23s +05° 54’ 11” 23.80 Cetus
Jun 29 2025 02h 20m 54s +05° 55’ 24” 23.80 Cetus
Jun 30 2025 02h 21m 24s +05° 56’ 34” 23.79 Cetus

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