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Comets » 

Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux

Above the horizon.  Rise: 10:57 | Tran: 16:16 | Set: 21:37
Alt: 30.27°   Az: 191.47°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 274,809,717.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 25m 06s and the Declination is -07° 37’ 38” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux is 16.88 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux in Cetus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux in Cetus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

49P/Arend-Rigaux
RA: 01h 23m 51s
Dec: -07° 45’ 27”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 25m 06s
-07° 37’ 38”
00h 39m 55s
02h 05m 01s

J2000

01h 23m 51s
-07° 45’ 27”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.88

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 49P/Arend-Rigaux from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 97.7°
Max altitude: 30.9°
Azimuth: 262.4°
  • 49P/Arend-Rigaux is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 30.27° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 49P/Arend-Rigaux 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 49P/Arend-Rigaux from Earth is currently 274,809,717.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.8369894953 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15m 16.667s to travel from Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux and arrive to us.

274,809,717.0
1.8369894953
15m 16.667s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux 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 49P/Arend-Rigaux 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 49P/Arend-Rigaux 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 49P/Arend-Rigaux to Earth happens on Sat Dec 27 2031 at a distance of 0.559464 Astronomical Units, or 83,694,594 kilometers:

Sat Dec 27 2031
83,694,594
0.559464

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 49P/Arend-Rigaux, 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 49P/Arend-Rigaux as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux at epoch 26 November 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456623.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.60042880
Orbit inclination i 19.05343748°
Perihelion distance q 1.42478121 AU
213,144,236 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.70676985 AU
853,720,620 km
Semi-major axis a 3.56577553 AU
533,432,428 km
Orbital period period 6.7335 years
2,459.4015 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2011-Oct-19 05:39:13
2,455,853.7356 JD
Next perihelion transit 2018-Jul-13 15:17
2,458,313.1370 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 332.88837062983°
Longitude of the ascending node node 118.83983707047°
Mean anomaly M 112.67586831862°
Mean motion n 0.14637708°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux
View Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux 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 Jan 30 01h 08m 49s -10° 19’ 30” 16.91 Cetus
2025 Jan 31 01h 10m 52s -09° 58’ 49” 16.91 Cetus
2025 Feb 01 01h 12m 57s -09° 38’ 02” 16.90 Cetus
2025 Feb 02 01h 15m 02s -09° 17’ 10” 16.90 Cetus
2025 Feb 03 01h 17m 09s -08° 56’ 10” 16.89 Cetus
2025 Feb 04 01h 19m 16s -08° 35’ 06” 16.89 Cetus
2025 Feb 05 01h 21m 25s -08° 13’ 56” 16.88 Cetus
2025 Feb 06 01h 23m 34s -07° 52’ 41” 16.88 Cetus
2025 Feb 07 01h 25m 45s -07° 31’ 21” 16.88 Cetus
2025 Feb 08 01h 27m 56s -07° 09’ 56” 16.87 Cetus
2025 Feb 09 01h 30m 09s -06° 48’ 25” 16.87 Cetus
2025 Feb 10 01h 32m 22s -06° 26’ 50” 16.86 Cetus
2025 Feb 11 01h 34m 37s -06° 05’ 11” 16.86 Cetus
2025 Feb 12 01h 36m 52s -05° 43’ 27” 16.85 Cetus

Additional Resources