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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 5:52  ☀️ Transit: 12:04  🌅 Sunset: 18:18

Comet 65P/Gunn

Comet 65P/Gunn is currently in the constellation of Leo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 65P/Gunn is 09h 30m 00s and the Declination is +26° 21’ 33” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 65P/Gunn is 18.70 (JPL).

09h 30m 00s
+26° 21’ 33”
Leo
18.70

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 65P/Gunn from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 63.6°
Max altitude: 64.9°
Azimuth: 296.4°
  • 65P/Gunn is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 12° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 65P/Gunn 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 65P/Gunn Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 65P/Gunn 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 65P/Gunn in Leo on March, 25 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 65P/Gunn in Leo on March, 25 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 65P/Gunn is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

65P/Gunn
RA: 09h 30m 00s
Dec: +26° 21’ 33”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 65P/Gunn
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 65P/Gunn?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 65P/Gunn in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 65P/Gunn Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 65P/Gunn from Earth is currently 540,240,559 kilometers, equivalent to 3.611285 Astronomical Units. Light takes 30 minutes and 2.0485 seconds to travel from Comet 65P/Gunn and arrive to us.

540,240,559
3.611285
30 minutes and 2.0485 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 65P/Gunn 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 65P/Gunn 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 65P/Gunn from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 65P/Gunn to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 65P/Gunn to Earth happens on Fri Jun 15 2040 at a distance of 1.678801 Astronomical Units, or 251,145,004 kilometers:

Fri Jun 15 2040
251,145,004
1.678801

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

Comet 65P/Gunn Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 65P/Gunn is 18.70.

18.70
-
-

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 65P/Gunn, 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 65P/Gunn as a function of time

Comet 65P/Gunn Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 65P/Gunn at epoch 14 May 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457888.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.25025692
Orbit inclination i 9.18473308°
Perihelion distance q 2.91014913 AU
435,352,114 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.85290788 AU
725,984,687 km
Semi-major axis a 3.88152850 AU
580,668,400 km
Orbital period period 7.6474 years
2,793.2036 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2017-Oct-16 15:15:43
2,458,043.1359 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Jun-09 20:08
2,460,836.3395 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 213.50647067392°
Longitude of the ascending node node 62.016936231311°
Mean anomaly M 340.06986304354°
Mean motion n 0.12888427°/day

Visualization of Comet 65P/Gunn Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 65P/Gunn with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 65P/Gunn 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 65P/Gunn 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 65P/Gunn computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 65P/Gunn in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 18 09h 33m 07s +26° 21’ 29” 18.67 Leo
2023 Mar 19 09h 32m 39s +26° 21’ 51” 18.68 Leo
2023 Mar 20 09h 32m 12s +26° 22’ 06” 18.68 Leo
2023 Mar 21 09h 31m 46s +26° 22’ 15” 18.68 Leo
2023 Mar 22 09h 31m 22s +26° 22’ 18” 18.69 Leo
2023 Mar 23 09h 30m 57s +26° 22’ 14” 18.69 Leo
2023 Mar 24 09h 30m 34s +26° 22’ 04” 18.69 Leo
2023 Mar 25 09h 30m 12s +26° 21’ 47” 18.70 Leo
2023 Mar 26 09h 29m 52s +26° 21’ 25” 18.70 Leo
2023 Mar 27 09h 29m 30s +26° 20’ 57” 18.71 Leo
2023 Mar 28 09h 29m 12s +26° 20’ 21” 18.71 Leo
2023 Mar 29 09h 28m 54s +26° 19’ 41” 18.72 Leo
2023 Mar 30 09h 28m 36s +26° 18’ 55” 18.72 Leo
2023 Mar 31 09h 28m 19s +26° 18’ 02” 18.73 Leo