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 21m 48s and the Declination is -09° 59’ 11” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels is 24.16 (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 971,228,071 kilometers, equivalent to 6.492259 Astronomical Units. Light takes 53 minutes and 59.6681 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 24.16.

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
2020 Oct 20	12h 17m 00s	-09° 23’ 17”	24.14	Virgo
2020 Oct 21	12h 17m 40s	-09° 28’ 12”	24.15	Virgo
2020 Oct 22	12h 18m 20s	-09° 33’ 05”	24.15	Virgo
2020 Oct 23	12h 18m 59s	-09° 37’ 57”	24.15	Virgo
2020 Oct 24	12h 19m 37s	-09° 42’ 48”	24.15	Virgo
2020 Oct 25	12h 20m 17s	-09° 47’ 39”	24.15	Virgo
2020 Oct 26	12h 20m 56s	-09° 52’ 31”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Oct 27	12h 21m 33s	-09° 57’ 20”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Oct 28	12h 22m 11s	-10° 02’ 09”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Oct 29	12h 22m 50s	-10° 06’ 59”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Oct 30	12h 23m 27s	-10° 11’ 47”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Oct 31	12h 24m 05s	-10° 16’ 33”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Nov 01	12h 24m 42s	-10° 21’ 20”	24.16	Virgo
2020 Nov 02	12h 25m 18s	-10° 26’ 07”	24.17	Virgo