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public  Balcı, Turkey Balcı, Turkey  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Istanbul
Sunrise: 5:24 
Transit: 12:47 
Sunset: 20:10
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Comets » 

Comet 66P/du Toit

Above the horizon.  Rise: 3:50 | Tran: 12:35 | Set: 21:19
Alt: 37.51°   Az: 65.36°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 66P/du Toit is in the constellation of Auriga, at a distance of 1,763,582,472.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 38m 06s and the Declination is +39° 42’ 53” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 66P/du Toit, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 28.30).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 66P/du Toit in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 66P/du Toit in the constellation of Auriga on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 66P/du Toit in the constellation of Auriga on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 66P/du Toit against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

66P/du Toit
RA: 06h 36m 20s
Dec: +39° 44’ 16”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 66P/du Toit. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 38m 06s
+39° 42’ 53”
19h 21m 37s
01h 59m 43s

J2000

06h 36m 20s
+39° 44’ 16”

Additional Information

Auriga
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
28.30

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 66P/du Toit from Balcı, Turkey (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Istanbul):

Azimuth: 50.3°
Max altitude: 89.0°
Azimuth: 309.7°

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 66P/du Toit from Earth is currently 1,763,582,472.0 kilometers, equivalent to 11.7888206814 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 38m 2.678s to travel from comet 66P/du Toit and arrive to us.

1,763,582,472.0
11.7888206814
1h 38m 2.678s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 66P/du Toit from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 66P/du Toit from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 66P/du Toit from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 66P/du Toit to Earth happened on Friday 18 May 2018 at a distance of 0.896003 Astronomical Units, or 134,040,105 kilometers:

Friday 18 May 2018
134,040,105
0.896003

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 66P/du Toit, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 66P/du Toit as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 66P/du Toit at epoch October, 30 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456961.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.78656817
Orbit inclination i 18.66897133°
Perihelion distance q 1.28545145 AU
192,300,800 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.76009448 AU
1,609,687,226 km
Semi-major axis a 6.02277296 AU
900,994,013 km
Orbital period period 14.7810 years
5,398.7494 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp May 20, 2018
2,458,258.9689 JD
Next perihelion transit March 1, 2033
2,463,657.7183 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 257.34273411042°
Longitude of the ascending node node 21.999850955098°
Mean anomaly M 273.48203248283°
Mean motion n 0.06668211°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 66P/du Toit relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 26 2025 06h 34m 35s +39° 44’ 58” 28.30 Auriga
Jun 27 2025 06h 35m 05s +39° 44’ 38” 28.30 Auriga
Jun 28 2025 06h 35m 34s +39° 44’ 18” 28.30 Auriga
Jun 29 2025 06h 36m 03s +39° 44’ 00” 28.30 Auriga
Jun 30 2025 06h 36m 33s +39° 43’ 42” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 01 2025 06h 37m 02s +39° 43’ 26” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 02 2025 06h 37m 31s +39° 43’ 10” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 03 2025 06h 38m 00s +39° 42’ 56” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 04 2025 06h 38m 30s +39° 42’ 42” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 05 2025 06h 38m 59s +39° 42’ 30” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 06 2025 06h 39m 28s +39° 42’ 18” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 07 2025 06h 39m 57s +39° 42’ 07” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 08 2025 06h 40m 26s +39° 41’ 57” 28.30 Auriga
Jul 09 2025 06h 40m 55s +39° 41’ 48” 28.30 Auriga

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