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Comets » 

Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle

Above the horizon.  Rise: 1:04 | Tran: 5:40 | Set: 10:17
Alt: 12.75°   Az: 223.44°   Direction: South-West

Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 2,120,190,752.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 18m 46s and the Declination is -15° 34’ 26” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle is 44.63 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle in Libra on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle in Libra on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

55P/Tempel-Tuttle
RA: 15h 17m 22s
Dec: -15° 28’ 59”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 18m 46s
-15° 34’ 26”
02h 56m 28s
18h 15m 15s

J2000

15h 17m 22s
-15° 28’ 59”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
44.63

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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 105.6°
Max altitude: 22.9°
Azimuth: 254.4°
  • 55P/Tempel-Tuttle is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-West direction at an altitude of 12.75° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle 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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle from Earth is currently 2,120,190,752.0 kilometers, equivalent to 14.1725997976 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 57m 52.195s to travel from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and arrive to us.

2,120,190,752.0
14.1725997976
1h 57m 52.195s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle 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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle 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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle 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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle to Earth happens on Sun Jan 25 2065 at a distance of 0.404270 Astronomical Units, or 60,477,952 kilometers:

Sun Jan 25 2065
60,477,952
0.404270

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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, 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 55P/Tempel-Tuttle as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle at epoch 14 August 1998 00:00 UTC (JD: 2451040.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.90555272
Orbit inclination i 162.48657538°
Perihelion distance q 0.97642792 AU
146,071,537 km
Aphelion distance Q 19.70024854 AU
2,947,115,240 km
Semi-major axis a 10.33833823 AU
1,546,593,389 km
Orbital period period 33.2418 years
12,141.5612 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1998-Feb-28 02:20:44
2,450,872.5977 JD
Next perihelion transit 2031-May-27 15:48
2,463,014.1589 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 172.50027368281°
Longitude of the ascending node node 235.27098914908°
Mean anomaly M 4.9783396846882°
Mean motion n 0.02965022°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
View Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle 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 Feb 07 15h 18m 54s -15° 37’ 17” 44.67 Libra
2025 Feb 08 15h 18m 54s -15° 36’ 57” 44.66 Libra
2025 Feb 09 15h 18m 53s -15° 36’ 37” 44.66 Libra
2025 Feb 10 15h 18m 53s -15° 36’ 15” 44.65 Libra
2025 Feb 11 15h 18m 52s -15° 35’ 52” 44.65 Libra
2025 Feb 12 15h 18m 50s -15° 35’ 28” 44.64 Libra
2025 Feb 13 15h 18m 49s -15° 35’ 02” 44.64 Libra
2025 Feb 14 15h 18m 47s -15° 34’ 36” 44.63 Libra
2025 Feb 15 15h 18m 45s -15° 34’ 08” 44.63 Libra
2025 Feb 16 15h 18m 42s -15° 33’ 39” 44.62 Libra
2025 Feb 17 15h 18m 40s -15° 33’ 09” 44.61 Libra
2025 Feb 18 15h 18m 37s -15° 32’ 37” 44.61 Libra
2025 Feb 19 15h 18m 33s -15° 32’ 05” 44.60 Libra
2025 Feb 20 15h 18m 30s -15° 31’ 31” 44.60 Libra

Additional Resources