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TimezoneEurope/London
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Comet 66P/du Toit

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 52.52°   Az: 86.51°   Direction: East

Comet 66P/du Toit is in the constellation of Auriga, at a distance of 1,738,737,169.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 18m 53s and the Declination is +40° 05’ 21” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 66P/du Toit is 28.26 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 66P/du Toit in Auriga on May, 23 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 66P/du Toit in Auriga 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 66P/du Toit is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

66P/du Toit
RA: 06h 17m 06s
Dec: +40° 06’ 01”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 66P/du Toit. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 18m 53s
+40° 05’ 21”
20h 29m 48s
02h 48m 41s

J2000

06h 17m 06s
+40° 06’ 01”

Additional Information

Auriga
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
28.26

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 66P/du Toit from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet 66P/du Toit is circumpolar and transits at 14:13 UTC reaching a maximum altitude of 78.6°.
  • 66P/du Toit is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 52.52° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 66P/du Toit 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 66P/du Toit from Earth is currently 1,738,737,169.0 kilometers, equivalent to 11.6227400889 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 36m 39.803s to travel from Comet 66P/du Toit and arrive to us.

1,738,737,169.0
11.6227400889
1h 36m 39.803s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 66P/du Toit 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 66P/du Toit 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 66P/du Toit to Earth happens on Fri May 18 2018 at a distance of 0.896003 Astronomical Units, or 134,040,105 kilometers:

Fri May 18 2018
134,040,105
0.896003

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 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.

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 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
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 66P/du Toit
View Comet 66P/du Toit in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 May 16 06h 15m 45s +40° 12’ 09” 28.25 Auriga
2025 May 17 06h 16m 09s +40° 11’ 11” 28.25 Auriga
2025 May 18 06h 16m 34s +40° 10’ 14” 28.25 Auriga
2025 May 19 06h 16m 59s +40° 09’ 19” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 20 06h 17m 24s +40° 08’ 24” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 21 06h 17m 50s +40° 07’ 30” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 22 06h 18m 15s +40° 06’ 36” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 23 06h 18m 41s +40° 05’ 44” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 24 06h 19m 07s +40° 04’ 53” 28.26 Auriga
2025 May 25 06h 19m 33s +40° 04’ 02” 28.27 Auriga
2025 May 26 06h 20m 00s +40° 03’ 12” 28.27 Auriga
2025 May 27 06h 20m 26s +40° 02’ 23” 28.27 Auriga
2025 May 28 06h 20m 53s +40° 01’ 35” 28.27 Auriga
2025 May 29 06h 21m 20s +40° 00’ 48” 28.27 Auriga

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