Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Dushu, China Dushu, China  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:24 
Transit: 12:31 
Sunset: 19:39
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan

Below the horizon.  Rise: 18:04 | Tran: 22:52 | Set: 3:39
Alt: -63.97°   Az: 78.20°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 517,521,208.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 16m 26s and the Declination is -24° 45’ 02” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 25.51).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan in the constellation of Ophiuchus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan in the constellation of Ophiuchus 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 62P/Tsuchinshan 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.

62P/Tsuchinshan
RA: 17h 14m 52s
Dec: -24° 43’ 24”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 16m 26s
-24° 45’ 02”
13h 52m 55s
07h 09m 21s

J2000

17h 14m 52s
-24° 43’ 24”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.51

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 62P/Tsuchinshan from Dushu, China (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 114.7°
Max altitude: 31.9°
Azimuth: 245.3°

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 62P/Tsuchinshan from Earth is currently 517,521,208.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.4594156025 Astronomical Units. Light takes 28m 46.265s to travel from comet 62P/Tsuchinshan and arrive to us.

517,521,208.0
3.4594156025
28m 46.265s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan 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 62P/Tsuchinshan 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 62P/Tsuchinshan 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 62P/Tsuchinshan to Earth will happen on Sunday 25 January 2088 at a distance of 0.409429 Astronomical Units, or 61,249,726 kilometers:

Sunday 25 January 2088
61,249,726
0.409429

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 62P/Tsuchinshan, 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 62P/Tsuchinshan as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan at epoch October, 24 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458051.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.59747740
Orbit inclination i 9.70777531°
Perihelion distance q 1.38380480 AU
207,014,253 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.49185789 AU
821,570,248 km
Semi-major axis a 3.43783135 AU
514,292,250 km
Orbital period period 6.3743 years
2,328.2268 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp November 16, 2017
2,458,073.6203 JD
Next perihelion transit April 1, 2024
2,460,401.8470 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 30.348667022866°
Longitude of the ascending node node 90.244520033111°
Mean anomaly M 356.57967149486°
Mean motion n 0.15462411°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 62P/Tsuchinshan 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 62P/Tsuchinshan 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
Jun 27 2025 17h 21m 51s -24° 48’ 14” 25.43 Ophiuchus
Jun 28 2025 17h 21m 04s -24° 47’ 50” 25.44 Ophiuchus
Jun 29 2025 17h 20m 17s -24° 47’ 26” 25.45 Ophiuchus
Jun 30 2025 17h 19m 31s -24° 46’ 59” 25.46 Ophiuchus
Jul 01 2025 17h 18m 46s -24° 46’ 33” 25.47 Ophiuchus
Jul 02 2025 17h 18m 01s -24° 46’ 06” 25.48 Ophiuchus
Jul 03 2025 17h 17m 17s -24° 45’ 37” 25.50 Ophiuchus
Jul 04 2025 17h 16m 34s -24° 45’ 08” 25.51 Ophiuchus
Jul 05 2025 17h 15m 52s -24° 44’ 38” 25.52 Ophiuchus
Jul 06 2025 17h 15m 10s -24° 44’ 09” 25.53 Ophiuchus
Jul 07 2025 17h 14m 29s -24° 43’ 39” 25.54 Ophiuchus
Jul 08 2025 17h 13m 49s -24° 43’ 08” 25.56 Ophiuchus
Jul 09 2025 17h 13m 09s -24° 42’ 37” 25.57 Ophiuchus
Jul 10 2025 17h 12m 31s -24° 42’ 06” 25.58 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive