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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:48  ☀️ Transit: 13:04  🌅 Sunset: 19:21

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is 03h 51m 52s and the Declination is +15° 03’ 37” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is 18.99 (JPL).

03h 51m 52s
+15° 03’ 37”
Taurus
18.99

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 75.0°
Max altitude: 53.6°
Azimuth: 285.1°
  • 61P/Shajn-Schaldach is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 49° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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.

Available Resources

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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.

Map showing Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in Taurus on March, 27 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in Taurus on March, 27 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

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.

61P/Shajn-Schaldach
RA: 03h 51m 52s
Dec: +15° 03’ 37”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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 431,839,455 kilometers, equivalent to 2.886668 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 0.4614 seconds to travel from Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach and arrive to us.

431,839,455
2.886668
24 minutes and 0.4614 seconds

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach 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 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 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach to Earth happens on Thu Oct 6 2050 at a distance of 1.032530 Astronomical Units, or 154,464,228 kilometers:

Thu Oct 6 2050
154,464,228
1.032530

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 18.99.

18.99
-
-

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.

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

Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach at epoch 23 November 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457716.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.42550894
Orbit inclination i 6.00639448°
Perihelion distance q 2.11432798 AU
316,298,965 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.24637140 AU
784,845,991 km
Semi-major axis a 3.68034969 AU
550,572,478 km
Orbital period period 7.0606 years
2,578.8855 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2015-Oct-02 03:10:19
2,457,297.6322 JD
Next perihelion transit 2022-Oct-24 00:25
2,459,876.5176 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 221.92127909017°
Longitude of the ascending node node 163.01950144858°
Mean anomaly M 58.471933154246°
Mean motion n 0.13959519°/day

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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach
View Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2023 Mar 20 03h 38m 05s +14° 09’ 33” 18.88 Taurus
2023 Mar 21 03h 39m 54s +14° 16’ 55” 18.89 Taurus
2023 Mar 22 03h 41m 43s +14° 24’ 14” 18.90 Taurus
2023 Mar 23 03h 43m 32s +14° 31’ 28” 18.92 Taurus
2023 Mar 24 03h 45m 20s +14° 38’ 39” 18.93 Taurus
2023 Mar 25 03h 47m 09s +14° 45’ 43” 18.95 Taurus
2023 Mar 26 03h 49m 00s +14° 52’ 45” 18.96 Taurus
2023 Mar 27 03h 50m 48s +14° 59’ 40” 18.98 Taurus
2023 Mar 28 03h 52m 38s +15° 06’ 32” 18.99 Taurus
2023 Mar 29 03h 54m 29s +15° 13’ 18” 19.00 Taurus
2023 Mar 30 03h 56m 20s +15° 20’ 00” 19.02 Taurus
2023 Mar 31 03h 58m 09s +15° 26’ 38” 19.03 Taurus
2023 Apr 01 04h 00m 01s +15° 33’ 10” 19.05 Taurus
2023 Apr 02 04h 01m 51s +15° 39’ 37” 19.06 Taurus