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TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:58 
Transit: 12:56 
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Comet 65P/Gunn

Below the horizon.  Rise: 0:49 | Tran: 3:57 | Set: 7:02
Alt: -20.89°   Az: 249.60°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet 65P/Gunn is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 312,974,449.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 01m 43s and the Declination is -28° 48’ 24” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 65P/Gunn is 15.92 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 65P/Gunn in Sagittarius on May, 23 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 65P/Gunn in Sagittarius on May, 23 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 19h 00m 07s
Dec: -28° 50’ 37”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 65P/Gunn. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 01m 43s
-28° 48’ 24”
05h 51m 26s
00h 53m 10s

J2000

19h 00m 07s
-28° 50’ 37”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
15.92

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 65P/Gunn from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 118.9°
Max altitude: 9.7°
Azimuth: 241.2°

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 65P/Gunn from Earth is currently 312,974,449.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.0921049714 Astronomical Units. Light takes 17m 23.970s to travel from Comet 65P/Gunn and arrive to us.

312,974,449.0
2.0921049714
17m 23.970s

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 65P/Gunn to Earth happens on Sat Jun 28 2003 at a distance of 1.455606 Astronomical Units, or 217,755,551 kilometers:

Sat Jun 28 2003
217,755,551
1.455606

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 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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 65P/Gunn at epoch 04 January 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458853.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.24998584
Orbit inclination i 9.18417504°
Perihelion distance q 2.91243893 AU
435,694,663 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.85391827 AU
726,135,839 km
Semi-major axis a 3.88317860 AU
580,915,251 km
Orbital period period 7.6523 years
2,794.9850 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2017-Oct-17 14:51:22
2,458,044.1190 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Jun-12 14:29
2,460,839.1040 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 213.74047112081°
Longitude of the ascending node node 62.020907620446°
Mean anomaly M 104.24999100835°
Mean motion n 0.12880212°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 May 16 19h 02m 25s -28° 16’ 50” 15.99 Sagittarius
2025 May 17 19h 02m 24s -28° 20’ 59” 15.98 Sagittarius
2025 May 18 19h 02m 22s -28° 25’ 11” 15.97 Sagittarius
2025 May 19 19h 02m 18s -28° 29’ 25” 15.96 Sagittarius
2025 May 20 19h 02m 12s -28° 33’ 42” 15.95 Sagittarius
2025 May 21 19h 02m 05s -28° 38’ 01” 15.94 Sagittarius
2025 May 22 19h 01m 57s -28° 42’ 23” 15.93 Sagittarius
2025 May 23 19h 01m 47s -28° 46’ 47” 15.92 Sagittarius
2025 May 24 19h 01m 35s -28° 51’ 12” 15.91 Sagittarius
2025 May 25 19h 01m 22s -28° 55’ 39” 15.90 Sagittarius
2025 May 26 19h 01m 08s -29° 00’ 09” 15.90 Sagittarius
2025 May 27 19h 00m 52s -29° 04’ 40” 15.89 Sagittarius
2025 May 28 19h 00m 35s -29° 09’ 11” 15.88 Sagittarius
2025 May 29 19h 00m 16s -29° 13’ 45” 15.87 Sagittarius

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