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Comet 48P/Johnson

Below the horizon.  Rise: 4:02 | Tran: 10:03 | Set: 16:04
Alt: -17.72°   Az: 65.52°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 48P/Johnson is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 400,413,441.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 39m 19s and the Declination is +00° 26’ 30” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 48P/Johnson is 16.60 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 48P/Johnson in Cetus on May, 31 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 48P/Johnson in Cetus on May, 31 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 48P/Johnson is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

48P/Johnson
RA: 01h 38m 01s
Dec: +00° 18’ 47”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 48P/Johnson. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 39m 19s
+00° 26’ 30”
16h 00m 26s
17h 39m 45s

J2000

01h 38m 01s
+00° 18’ 47”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.60

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 48P/Johnson from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 89.5°
Max altitude: 39.0°
Azimuth: 270.5°
  • 48P/Johnson is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 48P/Johnson is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 400,413,441.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.6765985313 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22m 15.635s to travel from Comet 48P/Johnson and arrive to us.

400,413,441.0
2.6765985313
22m 15.635s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 48P/Johnson from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 48P/Johnson to Earth happens on Wed Aug 30 2084 at a distance of 0.948246 Astronomical Units, or 141,855,632 kilometers:

Wed Aug 30 2084
141,855,632
0.948246

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

Light Curve

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.

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 27 April 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 2018-Aug-08 17:18:38
2,458,339.2213 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Mar-10 12:39
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
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 48P/Johnson
View Comet 48P/Johnson in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 May 24 01h 25m 22s -00° 35’ 35” 16.57 Cetus
2025 May 25 01h 27m 22s -00° 26’ 30” 16.58 Cetus
2025 May 26 01h 29m 21s -00° 17’ 30” 16.58 Cetus
2025 May 27 01h 31m 21s -00° 08’ 35” 16.59 Cetus
2025 May 28 01h 33m 20s +00° 00’ 13” 16.59 Cetus
2025 May 29 01h 35m 18s +00° 08’ 55” 16.60 Cetus
2025 May 30 01h 37m 16s +00° 17’ 35” 16.60 Cetus
2025 May 31 01h 39m 14s +00° 26’ 07” 16.60 Cetus
2025 Jun 01 01h 41m 11s +00° 34’ 35” 16.61 Cetus
2025 Jun 02 01h 43m 08s +00° 42’ 56” 16.61 Cetus
2025 Jun 03 01h 45m 05s +00° 51’ 13” 16.62 Cetus
2025 Jun 04 01h 47m 01s +00° 59’ 23” 16.62 Cetus
2025 Jun 05 01h 48m 57s +01° 07’ 28” 16.63 Cetus
2025 Jun 06 01h 50m 52s +01° 15’ 26” 16.63 Cetus

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