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public  Łobodno, Poland Łobodno, Poland  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Warsaw
Sunrise: 4:37 
Transit: 12:41 
Sunset: 20:46
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Comet 496P/Hill

Below the horizon.  Rise: 7:44 | Tran: 16:52 | Set: 2:02
Alt: -5.10°   Az: 338.19°   Direction: North-North-West

Comet 496P/Hill is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 333,601,019.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 44m 22s and the Declination is +30° 54’ 55” (apparent coordinates). The latest observed magnitude of Comet 496P/Hill is 16.1 (data provided by COBS).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 496P/Hill in Cancer on May, 31 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 496P/Hill in Cancer 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 496P/Hill is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

496P/Hill
RA: 08h 42m 48s
Dec: +31° 00’ 28”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 496P/Hill. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 496P/Hill?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 496P/Hill in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

08h 44m 22s
+30° 54’ 55”
10h 17m 48s
19h 02m 10s

J2000

08h 42m 48s
+31° 00’ 28”

Additional Information

Cancer
16.1
1.7'
n/a
2025-05-24
18.54

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 496P/Hill from Łobodno, Poland (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Warsaw):

Azimuth: 59.1°
Max altitude: 69.9°
Azimuth: 300.9°

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 496P/Hill from Earth is currently 333,601,019.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.2299850756 Astronomical Units. Light takes 18m 32.773s to travel from Comet 496P/Hill and arrive to us.

333,601,019.0
2.2299850756
18m 32.773s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 496P/Hill 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 496P/Hill 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 496P/Hill 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 496P/Hill to Earth happens on Thu Dec 6 2068 at a distance of 0.927059 Astronomical Units, or 138,686,054 kilometers:

Thu Dec 6 2068
138,686,054
0.927059

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 496P/Hill, 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 496P/Hill as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 496P/Hill at epoch 15 November 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459169.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.73321793
Orbit inclination i 14.86604322°
Perihelion distance q 1.62060311 AU
242,438,775 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.52866229 AU
1,575,065,463 km
Semi-major axis a 6.07463270 AU
908,752,119 km
Orbital period period 14.9723 years
5,468.6290 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2025-Mar-12 16:33:03
2,460,747.1896 JD
Next perihelion transit 2040-Mar-02 07:38
2,466,215.8186 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 41.934457354985°
Longitude of the ascending node node 64.094446808482°
Mean anomaly M 256.14064855333°
Mean motion n 0.06583003°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 496P/Hill 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 08h 23m 16s +32° 16’ 09” 18.28 Cancer
2025 May 25 08h 26m 19s +32° 05’ 10” 18.32 Cancer
2025 May 26 08h 29m 20s +31° 54’ 01” 18.35 Cancer
2025 May 27 08h 32m 21s +31° 42’ 40” 18.39 Cancer
2025 May 28 08h 35m 21s +31° 31’ 09” 18.43 Cancer
2025 May 29 08h 38m 20s +31° 19’ 25” 18.47 Cancer
2025 May 30 08h 41m 16s +31° 07’ 33” 18.51 Cancer
2025 May 31 08h 44m 13s +30° 55’ 31” 18.54 Cancer
2025 Jun 01 08h 47m 08s +30° 43’ 20” 18.58 Cancer
2025 Jun 02 08h 50m 01s +30° 30’ 58” 18.62 Cancer
2025 Jun 03 08h 52m 54s +30° 18’ 28” 18.66 Cancer
2025 Jun 04 08h 55m 46s +30° 05’ 50” 18.70 Cancer
2025 Jun 05 08h 58m 37s +29° 53’ 03” 18.73 Cancer
2025 Jun 06 09h 01m 26s +29° 40’ 09” 18.77 Cancer

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