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 05h 00m 39s and the Declination is +37° 17’ 17” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 66P/du Toit is 27.46 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 66P/du Toit [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]:
- 66P/du Toit is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the West-North-West direction at an altitude of 35° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 66P/du Toit is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 66P/du Toit rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 66P/du Toit available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 66P/du Toit Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 66P/du Toit 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.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
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 1,511,847,422 kilometers, equivalent to 10.106076 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 24 minutes and 2.9802 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 January 2013 and 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
The current visual magnitude of Comet 66P/du Toit is 27.46.
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 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.
Comet 66P/du Toit rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 66P/du Toit 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 66P/du Toit 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.
Comet 66P/du Toit Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 66P/du Toit at epoch 30 October 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 | 2018-May-20 11:15:17 2,458,258.9689 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2033-Mar-01 05:14 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 |
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!
View Comet 66P/du Toit in the 3D Solar System Simulator
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 May 14 | 04h 56m 30s | +37° 14’ 27” | 27.44 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 15 | 04h 57m 01s | +37° 14’ 47” | 27.44 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 16 | 04h 57m 33s | +37° 15’ 06” | 27.45 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 17 | 04h 58m 05s | +37° 15’ 27” | 27.45 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 18 | 04h 58m 36s | +37° 15’ 47” | 27.45 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 19 | 04h 59m 08s | +37° 16’ 10” | 27.46 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 20 | 04h 59m 42s | +37° 16’ 33” | 27.46 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 21 | 05h 00m 14s | +37° 16’ 59” | 27.46 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 22 | 05h 00m 47s | +37° 17’ 23” | 27.46 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 23 | 05h 01m 18s | +37° 17’ 50” | 27.47 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 24 | 05h 01m 51s | +37° 18’ 17” | 27.47 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 25 | 05h 02m 25s | +37° 18’ 47” | 27.47 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 26 | 05h 02m 57s | +37° 19’ 15” | 27.47 | Auriga |
| 2022 May 27 | 05h 03m 29s | +37° 19’ 45” | 27.48 | Auriga |