Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham
Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is 12h 48m 57s and the Declination is -08° 43’ 19” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is 26.25 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham [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]:
- 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 28° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham from Earth is currently 1,228,945,081 kilometers, equivalent to 8.214990 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 8 minutes and 19.3195 seconds to travel from Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham to Earth happens on Tue Oct 25 2061 at a distance of 1.472353 Astronomical Units, or 220,260,935 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is 26.25.
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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham, 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham at epoch 27 July 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456501.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.50730729 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 8.14723342° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.50583251 AU 374,867,208 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
7.66615694 AU 1,146,840,757 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
5.08599472 AU 760,853,983 km |
| Orbital period | period |
11.4700 years 4,189.5009 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Jul-18 01:31:09 2,457,587.5633 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2028-Jan-06 13:32 2,461,777.0642 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 44.214753926961° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 346.03978424198° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 266.67556802435° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.08592909°/day |
Visualization of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Oct 20 | 12h 45m 01s | -08° 15’ 33” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 21 | 12h 45m 33s | -08° 19’ 20” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 22 | 12h 46m 05s | -08° 23’ 07” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 23 | 12h 46m 37s | -08° 26’ 53” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 24 | 12h 47m 09s | -08° 30’ 38” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 25 | 12h 47m 41s | -08° 34’ 23” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 26 | 12h 48m 14s | -08° 38’ 08” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 27 | 12h 48m 44s | -08° 41’ 52” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 28 | 12h 49m 17s | -08° 45’ 35” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 29 | 12h 49m 49s | -08° 49’ 18” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 30 | 12h 50m 20s | -08° 53’ 00” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Oct 31 | 12h 50m 51s | -08° 56’ 43” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Nov 01 | 12h 51m 21s | -09° 00’ 24” | 26.25 | Virgo |
| 2020 Nov 02 | 12h 51m 52s | -09° 04’ 04” | 26.25 | Virgo |