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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:59 
Transit: 13:05 
Sunset: 21:11
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Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Below the horizon.  Rise: 17:15 | Tran: 21:12 | Set: 1:14
Alt: -30.64°   Az: 87.13°   Direction: East

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 740,659,480.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 40m 50s and the Declination is -21° 50’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 21.99.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the constellation of Libra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the constellation of Libra 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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.

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
RA: 15h 39m 20s
Dec: -21° 45’ 08”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 40m 50s
-21° 50’ 01”
16h 31m 07s
08h 11m 58s

J2000

15h 39m 20s
-21° 45’ 08”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.99

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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 111.8°
Max altitude: 16.7°
Azimuth: 248.2°

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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth is currently 740,659,480.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9510028220 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41m 10.574s to travel from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and arrive to us.

740,659,480.0
4.9510028220
41m 10.574s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to Earth happened on Friday 12 November 2021 at a distance of 0.418168 Astronomical Units, or 62,556,975 kilometers:

Friday 12 November 2021
62,556,975
0.418168

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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at epoch October, 09 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457305.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.64090813
Orbit inclination i 7.04029491°
Perihelion distance q 1.24326564 AU
185,989,893 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.68123334 AU
849,900,412 km
Semi-major axis a 3.46224949 AU
517,945,153 km
Orbital period period 6.4424 years
2,353.0761 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp August 13, 2015
2,457,247.5887 JD
Next perihelion transit January 21, 2022
2,459,600.6647 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 12.798249734157°
Longitude of the ascending node node 50.135573804414°
Mean anomaly M 8.8599274187588°
Mean motion n 0.15299123°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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
Jul 06 2025 15h 43m 20s -21° 59’ 13” 21.96 Libra
Jul 07 2025 15h 42m 57s -21° 57’ 54” 21.97 Libra
Jul 08 2025 15h 42m 36s -21° 56’ 36” 21.97 Libra
Jul 09 2025 15h 42m 15s -21° 55’ 20” 21.97 Libra
Jul 10 2025 15h 41m 55s -21° 54’ 07” 21.98 Libra
Jul 11 2025 15h 41m 36s -21° 52’ 55” 21.98 Libra
Jul 12 2025 15h 41m 17s -21° 51’ 45” 21.99 Libra
Jul 13 2025 15h 40m 59s -21° 50’ 37” 21.99 Libra
Jul 14 2025 15h 40m 42s -21° 49’ 31” 22.00 Libra
Jul 15 2025 15h 40m 26s -21° 48’ 28” 22.00 Libra
Jul 16 2025 15h 40m 10s -21° 47’ 26” 22.01 Libra
Jul 17 2025 15h 39m 55s -21° 46’ 27” 22.01 Libra
Jul 18 2025 15h 39m 41s -21° 45’ 30” 22.02 Libra
Jul 19 2025 15h 39m 28s -21° 44’ 34” 22.02 Libra

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