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Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels

Below the horizon.  Rise: 21:39 | Tran: 0:45 | Set: 3:55
Alt: -14.42°   Az: 118.12°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 851,396,005.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 28m 52s and the Declination is -28° 37’ 45” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is 23.23 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in Libra on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in Libra on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

64P/Swift-Gehrels
RA: 15h 27m 19s
Dec: -28° 32’ 32”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 28m 52s
-28° 37’ 45”
18h 53m 12s
10h 22m 05s

J2000

15h 27m 19s
-28° 32’ 32”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.23

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 118.6°
Max altitude: 9.9°
Azimuth: 241.3°
  • 64P/Swift-Gehrels is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 64P/Swift-Gehrels 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels from Earth is currently 851,396,005.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.6912307710 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47m 19.951s to travel from Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels and arrive to us.

851,396,005.0
5.6912307710
47m 19.951s

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.

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

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, 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 66,541,817 kilometers:

Sun Oct 28 2018
66,541,817
0.444805

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

Light Curve

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels at epoch 08 December 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458096.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.68732017
Orbit inclination i 8.94839346°
Perihelion distance q 1.39335048 AU
208,442,266 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.51896388 AU
1,124,820,988 km
Semi-major axis a 4.45615718 AU
666,631,627 km
Orbital period period 9.4070 years
3,435.8894 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-Nov-03 21:53:15
2,458,426.4120 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Mar-31 19:14
2,461,862.3014 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 97.144196873722°
Longitude of the ascending node node 300.00097941865°
Mean anomaly M 325.4330218687°
Mean motion n 0.10477636°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels
View Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 May 10 15h 33m 22s -28° 52’ 32” 23.25 Libra
2025 May 11 15h 32m 46s -28° 50’ 47” 23.25 Libra
2025 May 12 15h 32m 12s -28° 48’ 59” 23.24 Libra
2025 May 13 15h 31m 37s -28° 47’ 09” 23.24 Libra
2025 May 14 15h 31m 03s -28° 45’ 16” 23.24 Libra
2025 May 15 15h 30m 28s -28° 43’ 20” 23.24 Libra
2025 May 16 15h 29m 53s -28° 41’ 22” 23.23 Libra
2025 May 17 15h 29m 19s -28° 39’ 21” 23.23 Libra
2025 May 18 15h 28m 44s -28° 37’ 18” 23.23 Libra
2025 May 19 15h 28m 09s -28° 35’ 13” 23.23 Libra
2025 May 20 15h 27m 35s -28° 33’ 05” 23.23 Libra
2025 May 21 15h 27m 00s -28° 30’ 56” 23.22 Libra
2025 May 22 15h 26m 25s -28° 28’ 44” 23.22 Libra
2025 May 23 15h 25m 51s -28° 26’ 30” 23.22 Libra

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