Comet 48P/Johnson
Comet 48P/Johnson Position
Comet 48P/Johnson is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension is 05h 38m 45s and the Declination is +18° 57’ 31”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 48P/Johnson is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher 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 452,217,967 kilometers, equivalent to 3.022890 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25 minutes and 8.4368 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 0.94887323 Astronomical Units, or 141,949,414 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 20.92.
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 behavior 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, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric 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 13 January 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455210.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.36780792 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 13.66072399° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.30250459 AU 344,449,785 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.98168848 AU 745,249,990 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.64209654 AU 544,849,888 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.9500 years 2,538.7831 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2011-Sep-28 22:58:24 2,455,833.4572 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2018-Sep-10 17:46 2,458,372.2404 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 207.82093153347° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 117.28940934889° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 271.66452960162° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.14180022°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Jan 16 | 05h 42m 53s | +18° 40’ 00” | 20.81 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 17 | 05h 42m 16s | +18° 42’ 20” | 20.82 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 18 | 05h 41m 40s | +18° 44’ 42” | 20.84 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 19 | 05h 41m 05s | +18° 47’ 03” | 20.85 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 20 | 05h 40m 32s | +18° 49’ 23” | 20.87 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 21 | 05h 40m 00s | +18° 51’ 46” | 20.88 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 22 | 05h 39m 28s | +18° 54’ 07” | 20.90 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 23 | 05h 38m 57s | +18° 56’ 30” | 20.91 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 24 | 05h 38m 29s | +18° 58’ 51” | 20.93 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 25 | 05h 37m 59s | +19° 01’ 14” | 20.94 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 26 | 05h 37m 32s | +19° 03’ 38” | 20.96 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 27 | 05h 37m 06s | +19° 06’ 00” | 20.97 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 28 | 05h 36m 42s | +19° 08’ 24” | 20.99 | Taurus |
| 2020 Jan 29 | 05h 36m 19s | +19° 10’ 46” | 21.01 | Taurus |