Comet 48P/Johnson

Comet 48P/Johnson is currently in the constellation of Virgo.

The current Right Ascension of Comet 48P/Johnson is 14h 43m 03s and the Declination is -05° 20’ 00” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 48P/Johnson is 21.12 (JPL).

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.

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

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 48P/Johnson?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 48P/Johnson from Earth?)
• When does Comet 48P/Johnson rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 48P/Johnson?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 48P/Johnson orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 48P/Johnson with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 48P/Johnson for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 48P/Johnson in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 48P/Johnson with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

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 638,134,497 kilometers, equivalent to 4.265666 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35 minutes and 28.5876 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 1 January 2013 and 30 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 and 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.

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!

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
2023 Dec 03	14h 34m 29s	-04° 44’ 40”	21.22	Virgo
2023 Dec 04	14h 35m 39s	-04° 49’ 41”	21.20	Virgo
2023 Dec 05	14h 36m 51s	-04° 54’ 39”	21.19	Virgo
2023 Dec 06	14h 38m 02s	-04° 59’ 34”	21.18	Virgo
2023 Dec 07	14h 39m 12s	-05° 04’ 24”	21.16	Virgo
2023 Dec 08	14h 40m 23s	-05° 09’ 14”	21.15	Virgo
2023 Dec 09	14h 41m 34s	-05° 13’ 58”	21.14	Virgo
2023 Dec 10	14h 42m 43s	-05° 18’ 39”	21.12	Virgo
2023 Dec 11	14h 43m 54s	-05° 23’ 17”	21.11	Virgo
2023 Dec 12	14h 45m 05s	-05° 27’ 51”	21.09	Virgo
2023 Dec 13	14h 46m 14s	-05° 32’ 24”	21.08	Virgo
2023 Dec 14	14h 47m 26s	-05° 36’ 51”	21.06	Libra
2023 Dec 15	14h 48m 36s	-05° 41’ 14”	21.05	Libra
2023 Dec 16	14h 49m 45s	-05° 45’ 35”	21.04	Libra