Comet 48P/Johnson
Comet 48P/Johnson Position
Comet 48P/Johnson is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension is 05h 23m 13s and the Declination is +16° 34’ 12”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 48P/Johnson is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 48P/Johnson is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 48P/Johnson?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 48P/Johnson in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 48P/Johnson Distance
The distance of Comet 48P/Johnson from Earth is currently 574,692,737 kilometers, equivalent to 3.841584 Astronomical Units. Light takes 31 minutes and 56.9686 seconds to travel from Comet 48P/Johnson and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 48P/Johnson 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.
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 48P/Johnson from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 48P/Johnson to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 48P/Johnson to Earth happens on Wed Aug 30 2084 at a distance of 0.94888188 Astronomical Units, or 141,950,710 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 48P/Johnson brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 48P/Johnson is 20.06.
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behvior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 48P/Johnson, 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.
Comet 48P/Johnson rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 48P/Johnson rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 48P/Johnson touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 48P/Johnson Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 48P/Johnson at epoch 02 January 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455199.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.36780539 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 13.66074865° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.30255587 AU 344,457,457 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.98177033 AU 745,262,235 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.64216310 AU 544,859,846 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.9500 years 2,538.8527 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2011-Sep-28 22:47:43 2,455,833.4498 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2018-Sep-10 19:15 2,458,372.3026 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 207.81755576534° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 117.2899744583° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 270.1082438264° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.14179633°/day |
Visualization of Comet 48P/Johnson Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 48P/Johnson with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 48P/Johnson and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet 48P/Johnson in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 48P/Johnson 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 48P/Johnson computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 48P/Johnson in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Jul 17 | 05h 13m 42s | +16° 21’ 56” | 20.01 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 18 | 05h 15m 03s | +16° 23’ 51” | 20.01 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 19 | 05h 16m 23s | +16° 25’ 41” | 20.02 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 20 | 05h 17m 44s | +16° 27’ 28” | 20.03 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 21 | 05h 19m 05s | +16° 29’ 11” | 20.04 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 22 | 05h 20m 23s | +16° 30’ 51” | 20.04 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 23 | 05h 21m 42s | +16° 32’ 26” | 20.05 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 24 | 05h 23m 02s | +16° 34’ 00” | 20.06 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 25 | 05h 24m 20s | +16° 35’ 27” | 20.06 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 26 | 05h 25m 37s | +16° 36’ 53” | 20.07 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 27 | 05h 26m 54s | +16° 38’ 16” | 20.08 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 28 | 05h 28m 11s | +16° 39’ 33” | 20.08 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 29 | 05h 29m 27s | +16° 40’ 50” | 20.09 | Taurus |
| 2019 Jul 30 | 05h 30m 43s | +16° 42’ 01” | 20.10 | Taurus |