Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is 18h 14m 25s and the Declination is -16° 34’ 46” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is 20.92 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach [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]:

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Additional information about Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth is currently 521,550,344 kilometers, equivalent to 3.486349 Astronomical Units. Light takes 28 minutes and 59.7047 seconds to travel from Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach to Earth happens on Wed Oct 5 2050 at a distance of 1.032668 Astronomical Units, or 154,484,955 kilometers:

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

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is 20.92.

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 61P/Shajn-Schaldach, 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 61P/Shajn-Schaldach rise and set times

Today's Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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.

Visualization of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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!

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 09	18h 13m 05s	-16° 47’ 40”	21.03	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 10	18h 13m 18s	-16° 46’ 02”	21.01	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 11	18h 13m 31s	-16° 44’ 25”	21.00	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 12	18h 13m 42s	-16° 42’ 46”	20.99	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 13	18h 13m 54s	-16° 41’ 07”	20.97	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 14	18h 14m 03s	-16° 39’ 29”	20.96	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 15	18h 14m 12s	-16° 37’ 50”	20.95	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 16	18h 14m 20s	-16° 36’ 11”	20.93	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 17	18h 14m 26s	-16° 34’ 33”	20.92	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 18	18h 14m 31s	-16° 32’ 56”	20.90	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 19	18h 14m 36s	-16° 31’ 18”	20.89	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 20	18h 14m 39s	-16° 29’ 40”	20.88	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 21	18h 14m 42s	-16° 28’ 05”	20.86	Sagittarius
2021 Apr 22	18h 14m 44s	-16° 26’ 27”	20.85	Sagittarius