Comet 66P/du Toit

Comet 66P/du Toit is currently in the constellation of Auriga.

The current Right Ascension of Comet 66P/du Toit is 06h 03m 30s and the Declination is +42° 23’ 35” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 66P/du Toit is 27.68 (JPL).

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.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 66P/du Toit from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 66P/du Toit?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 66P/du Toit from Earth?)
• When does Comet 66P/du Toit rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 66P/du Toit?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 66P/du Toit orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 66P/du Toit with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 66P/du Toit for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 66P/du Toit in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 66P/du Toit with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 66P/du Toit is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 66P/du Toit?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 66P/du Toit in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 66P/du Toit Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 66P/du Toit from Earth is currently 1,413,541,068 kilometers, equivalent to 9.448938 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 18 minutes and 35.0655 seconds to travel from Comet 66P/du Toit and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 66P/du Toit 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 66P/du Toit from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 66P/du Toit to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 66P/du Toit to Earth happens on Fri May 18 2018 at a distance of 0.896003 Astronomical Units, or 134,040,105 kilometers:

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

Comet 66P/du Toit Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 66P/du Toit, 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.

Visualization of Comet 66P/du Toit Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 66P/du Toit with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 66P/du Toit 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 66P/du Toit 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 66P/du Toit computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 66P/du Toit in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Nov 28	06h 06m 44s	+42° 17’ 09”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Nov 29	06h 06m 19s	+42° 18’ 11”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Nov 30	06h 05m 52s	+42° 19’ 09”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 01	06h 05m 26s	+42° 20’ 04”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 02	06h 04m 59s	+42° 20’ 58”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 03	06h 04m 32s	+42° 21’ 51”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 04	06h 04m 04s	+42° 22’ 40”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 05	06h 03m 35s	+42° 23’ 26”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 06	06h 03m 09s	+42° 24’ 11”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 07	06h 02m 39s	+42° 24’ 52”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 08	06h 02m 12s	+42° 25’ 32”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 09	06h 01m 44s	+42° 26’ 09”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 10	06h 01m 14s	+42° 26’ 44”	27.68	Auriga
2023 Dec 11	06h 00m 46s	+42° 27’ 15”	27.68	Auriga