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public  Birnin Magaji, Nigeria Birnin Magaji, Nigeria  ⓘ
TimezoneAfrica/Lagos
Sunrise: 6:12 
Transit: 12:36 
Sunset: 19:00
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Comets » 

Comet 48P/Johnson

Above the horizon.  Rise: 2:26 | Tran: 8:28 | Set: 14:30
Alt: 29.29°   Az: 267.71°   Direction: West

Comet 48P/Johnson is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 372,737,799.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 38m 51s and the Declination is +04° 08’ 57” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 48P/Johnson, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 16.76).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 48P/Johnson in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson 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.

48P/Johnson
RA: 02h 37m 31s
Dec: +04° 02’ 23”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 48P/Johnson. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

02h 38m 51s
+04° 08’ 57”
04h 03m 36s
06h 42m 27s

J2000

02h 37m 31s
+04° 02’ 23”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.76

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 48P/Johnson from Birnin Magaji, Nigeria (all times relative to the local timezone Africa/Lagos):

Azimuth: 85.9°
Max altitude: 81.6°
Azimuth: 274.2°

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 48P/Johnson from Earth is currently 372,737,799.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.4915982912 Astronomical Units. Light takes 20m 43.319s to travel from comet 48P/Johnson and arrive to us.

372,737,799.0
2.4915982912
20m 43.319s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson to Earth will happen on Wednesday 30 August 2084 at a distance of 0.948246 Astronomical Units, or 141,855,632 kilometers:

Wednesday 30 August 2084
141,855,632
0.948246

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 48P/Johnson, 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 48P/Johnson as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 48P/Johnson at epoch April, 27 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457506.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.42896823
Orbit inclination i 12.28312892°
Perihelion distance q 2.00648117 AU
300,165,312 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.02108286 AU
751,143,306 km
Semi-major axis a 3.51378202 AU
525,654,309 km
Orbital period period 6.5867 years
2,405.8063 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp August 8, 2018
2,458,339.2213 JD
Next perihelion transit March 10, 2025
2,460,745.0275 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 214.69091189519°
Longitude of the ascending node node 111.46042145319°
Mean anomaly M 235.3932655849°
Mean motion n 0.14963798°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 48P/Johnson 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 48P/Johnson 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 25 2025 02h 25m 55s +03° 27’ 44” 16.73 Cetus
Jun 26 2025 02h 27m 40s +03° 33’ 37” 16.73 Cetus
Jun 27 2025 02h 29m 25s +03° 39’ 23” 16.74 Cetus
Jun 28 2025 02h 31m 10s +03° 45’ 02” 16.74 Cetus
Jun 29 2025 02h 32m 54s +03° 50’ 34” 16.75 Cetus
Jun 30 2025 02h 34m 37s +03° 56’ 00” 16.75 Cetus
Jul 01 2025 02h 36m 20s +04° 01’ 18” 16.76 Cetus
Jul 02 2025 02h 38m 02s +04° 06’ 30” 16.76 Cetus
Jul 03 2025 02h 39m 43s +04° 11’ 35” 16.77 Cetus
Jul 04 2025 02h 41m 24s +04° 16’ 32” 16.77 Cetus
Jul 05 2025 02h 43m 04s +04° 21’ 23” 16.78 Cetus
Jul 06 2025 02h 44m 43s +04° 26’ 07” 16.78 Cetus
Jul 07 2025 02h 46m 22s +04° 30’ 44” 16.79 Cetus
Jul 08 2025 02h 48m 01s +04° 35’ 15” 16.79 Cetus

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