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Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham

Above the horizon.  Rise: 23:22 | Tran: 1:52 | Set: 4:18
Alt: 2.08°   Az: 204.42°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is in the constellation of Scorpius, at a distance of 735,827,925.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 00m 27s and the Declination is -32° 34’ 15” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is 24.12 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in Scorpius on May, 24 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in Scorpius on May, 24 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

56P/Slaughter-Burnham
RA: 16h 58m 48s
Dec: -32° 32’ 03”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 00m 27s
-32° 34’ 15”
01h 57m 25s
18h 57m 53s

J2000

16h 58m 48s
-32° 32’ 03”

Additional Information

Scorpius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.12

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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 122.6°
Max altitude: 5.9°
Azimuth: 237.4°
  • 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 2.08° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham from Earth is currently 735,827,925.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9187058717 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 54.458s to travel from Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham and arrive to us.

735,827,925.0
4.9187058717
40m 54.458s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 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 56P/Slaughter-Burnham to Earth happens on Tue Oct 25 2061 at a distance of 1.472337 Astronomical Units, or 220,258,529 kilometers:

Tue Oct 25 2061
220,258,529
1.472337

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 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham at epoch 11 August 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456516.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.50729701
Orbit inclination i 8.14719834°
Perihelion distance q 2.50587086 AU
374,872,945 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.66606199 AU
1,146,826,553 km
Semi-major axis a 5.08596642 AU
760,849,749 km
Orbital period period 11.4701 years
4,189.4659 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2016-Jul-18 01:58:14
2,457,587.5821 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Jan-06 13:09
2,461,777.0480 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 44.217463287662°
Longitude of the ascending node node 346.03761392011°
Mean anomaly M 267.96211964631°
Mean motion n 0.08592981°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham
View Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 May 17 17h 04m 31s -32° 34’ 33” 24.17 Scorpius
2025 May 18 17h 03m 58s -32° 34’ 39” 24.17 Scorpius
2025 May 19 17h 03m 25s -32° 34’ 43” 24.16 Scorpius
2025 May 20 17h 02m 51s -32° 34’ 44” 24.15 Scorpius
2025 May 21 17h 02m 17s -32° 34’ 41” 24.14 Scorpius
2025 May 22 17h 01m 41s -32° 34’ 36” 24.14 Scorpius
2025 May 23 17h 01m 06s -32° 34’ 28” 24.13 Scorpius
2025 May 24 17h 00m 31s -32° 34’ 17” 24.12 Scorpius
2025 May 25 16h 59m 56s -32° 34’ 03” 24.12 Scorpius
2025 May 26 16h 59m 20s -32° 33’ 46” 24.11 Scorpius
2025 May 27 16h 58m 44s -32° 33’ 26” 24.10 Scorpius
2025 May 28 16h 58m 07s -32° 33’ 04” 24.10 Scorpius
2025 May 29 16h 57m 31s -32° 32’ 38” 24.09 Scorpius
2025 May 30 16h 56m 54s -32° 32’ 09” 24.09 Scorpius

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive