Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is 17h 43m 47s and the Declination is -27° 31’ 47” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is 21.00 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko [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]:

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Additional information about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth is currently 494,480,559 kilometers, equivalent to 3.305398 Astronomical Units. Light takes 27 minutes and 29.4096 seconds to travel from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to Earth happens on Fri Nov 12 2021 at a distance of 0.41819434 Astronomical Units, or 62,560,982 kilometers:

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

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is 21.00.

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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko rise and set times

Today's Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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.

Visualization of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2020 Jul 31	17h 47m 43s	-27° 37’ 05”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 01	17h 47m 07s	-27° 36’ 23”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 02	17h 46m 32s	-27° 35’ 40”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 03	17h 45m 57s	-27° 34’ 58”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 04	17h 45m 24s	-27° 34’ 13”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 05	17h 44m 53s	-27° 33’ 28”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 06	17h 44m 22s	-27° 32’ 42”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 07	17h 43m 53s	-27° 31’ 54”	21.00	Sagittarius
2020 Aug 08	17h 43m 24s	-27° 31’ 08”	21.00	Ophiucus
2020 Aug 09	17h 42m 56s	-27° 30’ 20”	21.00	Ophiucus
2020 Aug 10	17h 42m 30s	-27° 29’ 30”	21.00	Ophiucus
2020 Aug 11	17h 42m 06s	-27° 28’ 41”	21.00	Ophiucus
2020 Aug 12	17h 41m 42s	-27° 27’ 51”	21.00	Ophiucus
2020 Aug 13	17h 41m 18s	-27° 27’ 02”	21.00	Ophiucus