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Comets » 

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:04 | Tran: 17:22 | Set: 23:39
Alt: -33.70°   Az: 345.88°   Direction: North-North-West

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 806,167,567.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 45m 18s and the Declination is +03° 54’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 24.69.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

61P/Shajn-Schaldach
RA: 11h 43m 59s
Dec: +04° 03’ 29”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 45m 18s
+03° 54’ 59”
11h 13m 02s
22h 58m 20s

J2000

11h 43m 59s
+04° 03’ 29”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.69

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 86.1°
Max altitude: 42.4°
Azimuth: 273.9°

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 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth is currently 806,167,567.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3888973368 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 49.086s to travel from comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach and arrive to us.

806,167,567.0
5.3888973368
44m 49.086s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach to Earth will happen on Tuesday 4 October 2050 at a distance of 1.037695 Astronomical Units, or 155,236,965 kilometers:

Tuesday 4 October 2050
155,236,965
1.037695

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach at epoch September, 29 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459852.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.42420483
Orbit inclination i 6.00052492°
Perihelion distance q 2.12586238 AU
318,024,486 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.25823011 AU
786,620,029 km
Semi-major axis a 3.69204624 AU
552,322,258 km
Orbital period period 7.0943 years
2,591.1892 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp October 23, 2022
2,459,876.3154 JD
Next perihelion transit November 27, 2029
2,462,467.5046 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 221.65697381257°
Longitude of the ascending node node 162.96850642532°
Mean anomaly M 356.69127667972°
Mean motion n 0.13893235°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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
Jul 05 2025 11h 41m 46s +04° 17’ 34” 24.64 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 11h 42m 14s +04° 14’ 33” 24.65 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 11h 42m 43s +04° 11’ 30” 24.65 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 11h 43m 12s +04° 08’ 23” 24.66 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 11h 43m 41s +04° 05’ 14” 24.67 Virgo
Jul 10 2025 11h 44m 11s +04° 02’ 01” 24.68 Virgo
Jul 11 2025 11h 44m 42s +03° 58’ 46” 24.69 Virgo
Jul 12 2025 11h 45m 13s +03° 55’ 29” 24.69 Virgo
Jul 13 2025 11h 45m 44s +03° 52’ 08” 24.70 Virgo
Jul 14 2025 11h 46m 16s +03° 48’ 45” 24.71 Virgo
Jul 15 2025 11h 46m 48s +03° 45’ 20” 24.72 Virgo
Jul 16 2025 11h 47m 20s +03° 41’ 51” 24.72 Virgo
Jul 17 2025 11h 47m 53s +03° 38’ 20” 24.73 Virgo
Jul 18 2025 11h 48m 26s +03° 34’ 47” 24.74 Virgo

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