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Comet 68P/Klemola

Above the horizon.  Rise: 9:37 | Tran: 16:21 | Set: 23:06
Alt: 21.92°   Az: 103.39°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 68P/Klemola is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 1,307,165,826.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 41m 39s and the Declination is +09° 06’ 22” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 68P/Klemola, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 26.59).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 68P/Klemola in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 68P/Klemola in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 68P/Klemola in the constellation of Leo 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 68P/Klemola 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.

68P/Klemola
RA: 09h 40m 18s
Dec: +09° 13’ 21”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 68P/Klemola. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 41m 39s
+09° 06’ 22”
19h 35m 45s
05h 17m 24s

J2000

09h 40m 18s
+09° 13’ 21”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
26.59

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 68P/Klemola from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 80.9°
Max altitude: 47.6°
Azimuth: 279.1°

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 68P/Klemola from Earth is currently 1,307,165,826.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.7378638471 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 12m 40.236s to travel from comet 68P/Klemola and arrive to us.

1,307,165,826.0
8.7378638471
1h 12m 40.236s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola to Earth will happen on Thursday 14 August 2081 at a distance of 1.062222 Astronomical Units, or 158,906,194 kilometers:

Thursday 14 August 2081
158,906,194
1.062222

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 68P/Klemola, 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 68P/Klemola as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 68P/Klemola at epoch March, 05 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457453.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.64034454
Orbit inclination i 11.18434036°
Perihelion distance q 1.76206014 AU
263,600,445 km
Aphelion distance Q 8.03654058 AU
1,202,249,361 km
Semi-major axis a 4.89930036 AU
732,924,903 km
Orbital period period 10.8445 years
3,960.9515 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp November 11, 2019
2,458,799.3247 JD
Next perihelion transit September 15, 2030
2,462,760.2762 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 153.83578295541°
Longitude of the ascending node node 175.29971061525°
Mean anomaly M 237.68169437253°
Mean motion n 0.09088725°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola 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
Jun 19 2025 09h 38m 57s +09° 15’ 00” 26.57 Leo
Jun 20 2025 09h 39m 18s +09° 13’ 57” 26.57 Leo
Jun 21 2025 09h 39m 39s +09° 12’ 52” 26.58 Leo
Jun 22 2025 09h 40m 00s +09° 11’ 44” 26.58 Leo
Jun 23 2025 09h 40m 22s +09° 10’ 36” 26.58 Leo
Jun 24 2025 09h 40m 44s +09° 09’ 24” 26.59 Leo
Jun 25 2025 09h 41m 06s +09° 08’ 12” 26.59 Leo
Jun 26 2025 09h 41m 29s +09° 06’ 56” 26.59 Leo
Jun 27 2025 09h 41m 51s +09° 05’ 40” 26.59 Leo
Jun 28 2025 09h 42m 14s +09° 04’ 21” 26.60 Leo
Jun 29 2025 09h 42m 38s +09° 03’ 01” 26.60 Leo
Jun 30 2025 09h 43m 01s +09° 01’ 38” 26.60 Leo
Jul 01 2025 09h 43m 25s +09° 00’ 14” 26.61 Leo
Jul 02 2025 09h 43m 49s +08° 58’ 47” 26.61 Leo

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