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public  Medernach, Luxembourg Medernach, Luxembourg  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Luxembourg
Sunrise: 5:34 
Transit: 13:39 
Sunset: 21:44
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Comets » 

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova

Below the horizon.  Rise: 17:36 | Tran: 22:11 | Set: 2:51
Alt: -2.12°   Az: 113.67°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 701,724,337.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 29m 07s and the Declination is -16° 41’ 14” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 33.20).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in the constellation of Libra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in the constellation of Libra 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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.

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
RA: 15h 27m 41s
Dec: -16° 36’ 00”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 29m 07s
-16° 41’ 14”
19h 08m 38s
10h 37m 46s

J2000

15h 27m 41s
-16° 36’ 00”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
33.20

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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova from Medernach, Luxembourg (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Luxembourg):

Azimuth: 106.7°
Max altitude: 23.5°
Azimuth: 253.3°

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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova from Earth is currently 701,724,337.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6907374665 Astronomical Units. Light takes 39m 0.700s to travel from comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova and arrive to us.

701,724,337.0
4.6907374665
39m 0.700s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova to Earth happened on Monday 15 August 2011 at a distance of 0.061560 Astronomical Units, or 9,209,242 kilometers:

Monday 15 August 2011
9,209,242
0.061560

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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova, 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at epoch August, 13 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457979.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.82399608
Orbit inclination i 4.24817054°
Perihelion distance q 0.53265015 AU
79,683,329 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.52005760 AU
825,788,865 km
Semi-major axis a 3.02635388 AU
452,736,097 km
Orbital period period 5.2649 years
1,922.9943 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp December 31, 2016
2,457,753.7841 JD
Next perihelion transit April 7, 2022
2,459,676.7784 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 326.34419840517°
Longitude of the ascending node node 88.934602450647°
Mean anomaly M 42.255823560302°
Mean motion n 0.18720805°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 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 27 2025 15h 32m 37s -16° 50’ 00” 33.18 Libra
Jun 28 2025 15h 32m 07s -16° 48’ 43” 33.18 Libra
Jun 29 2025 15h 31m 38s -16° 47’ 28” 33.18 Libra
Jun 30 2025 15h 31m 09s -16° 46’ 15” 33.18 Libra
Jul 01 2025 15h 30m 42s -16° 45’ 06” 33.19 Libra
Jul 02 2025 15h 30m 15s -16° 43’ 59” 33.19 Libra
Jul 03 2025 15h 29m 48s -16° 42’ 55” 33.19 Libra
Jul 04 2025 15h 29m 23s -16° 41’ 53” 33.19 Libra
Jul 05 2025 15h 28m 58s -16° 40’ 53” 33.20 Libra
Jul 06 2025 15h 28m 33s -16° 39’ 57” 33.20 Libra
Jul 07 2025 15h 28m 10s -16° 39’ 03” 33.20 Libra
Jul 08 2025 15h 27m 47s -16° 38’ 12” 33.20 Libra
Jul 09 2025 15h 27m 26s -16° 37’ 24” 33.21 Libra
Jul 10 2025 15h 27m 05s -16° 36’ 39” 33.21 Libra

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive