Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels

Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is 12h 59m 13s and the Declination is -17° 14’ 39” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is 23.78 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels [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 64P/Swift-Gehrels available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels from Earth is currently 953,721,559 kilometers, equivalent to 6.375235 Astronomical Units. Light takes 53 minutes and 1.2727 seconds to travel from Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels 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 64P/Swift-Gehrels from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels to Earth happens on Sun Oct 28 2018 at a distance of 0.444805 Astronomical Units, or 66,541,866 kilometers:

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

Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is 23.78.

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 64P/Swift-Gehrels, 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 64P/Swift-Gehrels rise and set times

Today's Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels 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 64P/Swift-Gehrels 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 64P/Swift-Gehrels Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels 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 64P/Swift-Gehrels 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2022 May 12	13h 01m 46s	-17° 37’ 00”	23.75	Virgo
2022 May 13	13h 01m 24s	-17° 33’ 56”	23.75	Virgo
2022 May 14	13h 01m 03s	-17° 30’ 55”	23.75	Virgo
2022 May 15	13h 00m 42s	-17° 27’ 53”	23.76	Virgo
2022 May 16	13h 00m 21s	-17° 24’ 52”	23.76	Virgo
2022 May 17	13h 00m 01s	-17° 21’ 53”	23.77	Virgo
2022 May 18	12h 59m 41s	-17° 18’ 56”	23.77	Virgo
2022 May 19	12h 59m 21s	-17° 16’ 00”	23.78	Virgo
2022 May 20	12h 59m 03s	-17° 13’ 05”	23.78	Virgo
2022 May 21	12h 58m 45s	-17° 10’ 13”	23.78	Virgo
2022 May 22	12h 58m 27s	-17° 07’ 20”	23.79	Virgo
2022 May 23	12h 58m 09s	-17° 04’ 32”	23.79	Virgo
2022 May 24	12h 57m 52s	-17° 01’ 44”	23.80	Virgo
2022 May 25	12h 57m 37s	-16° 58’ 58”	23.80	Virgo