Comet 48P/Johnson
Comet 48P/Johnson is currently in the constellation of Leo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 48P/Johnson is 11h 36m 19s and the Declination is +11° 53’ 01” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 48P/Johnson is 23.76 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 48P/Johnson [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 48P/Johnson is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 24° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 48P/Johnson is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 48P/Johnson rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 48P/Johnson available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 48P/Johnson Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 48P/Johnson finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher 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.
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 from Earth
The distance of Comet 48P/Johnson from Earth is currently 856,201,643 kilometers, equivalent to 5.723354 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47 minutes and 35.9813 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 0.948857 Astronomical Units, or 141,946,997 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 23.76.
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 31 January 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455228.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.36781174 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 13.66068839° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.30241851 AU 344,436,907 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.98154627 AU 745,228,716 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.64198239 AU 544,832,812 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.9505 years 2,538.6638 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2011-Sep-28 23:16:27 2,455,833.4698 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2018-Sep-10 15:12 2,458,372.1336 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 207.82662175901° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 117.28849572924° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 274.21112405513° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.14180688°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Sep 17 | 11h 29m 35s | +12° 30’ 47” | 23.79 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 18 | 11h 30m 29s | +12° 25’ 47” | 23.78 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 19 | 11h 31m 21s | +12° 20’ 49” | 23.78 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 20 | 11h 32m 13s | +12° 15’ 52” | 23.78 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 21 | 11h 33m 06s | +12° 10’ 56” | 23.77 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 22 | 11h 34m 00s | +12° 06’ 02” | 23.77 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 23 | 11h 34m 51s | +12° 01’ 08” | 23.76 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 24 | 11h 35m 44s | +11° 56’ 13” | 23.76 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 25 | 11h 36m 38s | +11° 51’ 21” | 23.76 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 26 | 11h 37m 29s | +11° 46’ 31” | 23.75 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 27 | 11h 38m 22s | +11° 41’ 42” | 23.75 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 28 | 11h 39m 15s | +11° 36’ 52” | 23.74 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 29 | 11h 40m 08s | +11° 32’ 06” | 23.74 | Leo |
| 2022 Sep 30 | 11h 40m 59s | +11° 27’ 20” | 23.73 | Leo |