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Comets » 

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Below the horizon.  Rise: 3:32 | Tran: 7:20 | Set: 11:09
Alt: -38.59°   Az: 78.87°   Direction: East

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 893,842,059.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 16h 27m 47s and the Declination is -23° 12’ 23” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is 22.45 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Ophiuchus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Ophiuchus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
RA: 16h 26m 17s
Dec: -23° 09’ 04”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

16h 27m 47s
-23° 12’ 23”
15h 46m 13s
08h 14m 01s

J2000

16h 26m 17s
-23° 09’ 04”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.45

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

Azimuth: 113.2°
Max altitude: 15.3°
Azimuth: 246.8°
  • 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth is currently 893,842,059.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.9749651169 Astronomical Units. Light takes 49m 41.536s to travel from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and arrive to us.

893,842,059.0
5.9749651169
49m 41.536s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to Earth happens on Fri Nov 12 2021 at a distance of 0.418168 Astronomical Units, or 62,556,975 kilometers:

Fri Nov 12 2021
62,556,975
0.418168

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 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.

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 09 October 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 2015-Aug-13 02:07:40
2,457,247.5887 JD
Next perihelion transit 2022-Jan-21 03:57
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
View Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Jan 30 16h 24m 06s -23° 01’ 16” 22.50 Scorpius
2025 Jan 31 16h 24m 36s -23° 02’ 44” 22.49 Scorpius
2025 Feb 01 16h 25m 05s -23° 04’ 11” 22.49 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 02 16h 25m 33s -23° 05’ 37” 22.48 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 03 16h 26m 01s -23° 07’ 01” 22.48 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 04 16h 26m 29s -23° 08’ 24” 22.47 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 05 16h 26m 56s -23° 09’ 47” 22.47 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 16h 27m 22s -23° 11’ 07” 22.46 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 16h 27m 48s -23° 12’ 26” 22.45 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 08 16h 28m 13s -23° 13’ 44” 22.45 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 09 16h 28m 38s -23° 15’ 01” 22.44 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 10 16h 29m 02s -23° 16’ 16” 22.44 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 11 16h 29m 26s -23° 17’ 31” 22.43 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 12 16h 29m 49s -23° 18’ 44” 22.42 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources