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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:36  ☀️ Transit: 13:02  🌅 Sunset: 19:29

Comet 68P/Klemola

Comet 68P/Klemola is currently in the constellation of Cancer. The current Right Ascension of Comet 68P/Klemola is 07h 59m 55s and the Declination is +11° 40’ 29” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 68P/Klemola is 25.48 (JPL).

07h 59m 55s
+11° 40’ 29”
Cancer
25.48

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 68P/Klemola from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 78.3°
Max altitude: 50.2°
Azimuth: 281.7°
  • 68P/Klemola is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 10° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 68P/Klemola 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.

Available Resources

Comet 68P/Klemola Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 68P/Klemola finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet 68P/Klemola in Cancer on April, 01 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 68P/Klemola in Cancer on April, 01 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 68P/Klemola is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

68P/Klemola
RA: 07h 59m 55s
Dec: +11° 40’ 29”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 68P/Klemola
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 68P/Klemola?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 68P/Klemola in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 68P/Klemola Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 68P/Klemola from Earth is currently 1,025,780,846 kilometers, equivalent to 6.856921 Astronomical Units. Light takes 57 minutes and 1.6366 seconds to travel from Comet 68P/Klemola and arrive to us.

1,025,780,846
6.856921
57 minutes and 1.6366 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola 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 68P/Klemola from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 68P/Klemola to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 68P/Klemola to Earth happens on Thu Aug 14 2081 at a distance of 1.062222 Astronomical Units, or 158,906,193 kilometers:

Thu Aug 14 2081
158,906,193
1.062222

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

Comet 68P/Klemola Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 68P/Klemola is 25.48.

25.48
-
-

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

Comet 68P/Klemola Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 68P/Klemola at epoch 27 February 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457446.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.64033260
Orbit inclination i 11.18350805°
Perihelion distance q 1.76205307 AU
263,599,387 km
Aphelion distance Q 8.03618311 AU
1,202,195,885 km
Semi-major axis a 4.89911809 AU
732,897,636 km
Orbital period period 10.8439 years
3,960.7305 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2019-Nov-11 22:08:41
2,458,799.4227 JD
Next perihelion transit 2030-Sep-15 15:40
2,462,760.1532 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 153.83989025349°
Longitude of the ascending node node 175.30038456921°
Mean anomaly M 237.0297098905°
Mean motion n 0.09089232°/day

Visualization of Comet 68P/Klemola Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 68P/Klemola with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 68P/Klemola 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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 68P/Klemola
View Comet 68P/Klemola in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 68P/Klemola 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 68P/Klemola in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 25 08h 00m 24s +11° 27’ 46” 25.42 Cancer
2023 Mar 26 08h 00m 19s +11° 29’ 32” 25.43 Cancer
2023 Mar 27 08h 00m 12s +11° 31’ 18” 25.44 Cancer
2023 Mar 28 08h 00m 08s +11° 33’ 01” 25.44 Cancer
2023 Mar 29 08h 00m 05s +11° 34’ 42” 25.45 Cancer
2023 Mar 30 08h 00m 02s +11° 36’ 21” 25.46 Cancer
2023 Mar 31 07h 59m 58s +11° 38’ 00” 25.47 Cancer
2023 Apr 01 07h 59m 57s +11° 39’ 37” 25.47 Cancer
2023 Apr 02 07h 59m 54s +11° 41’ 12” 25.48 Cancer
2023 Apr 03 07h 59m 53s +11° 42’ 45” 25.49 Cancer
2023 Apr 04 07h 59m 53s +11° 44’ 16” 25.50 Cancer
2023 Apr 05 07h 59m 53s +11° 45’ 44” 25.50 Cancer
2023 Apr 06 07h 59m 53s +11° 47’ 12” 25.51 Cancer
2023 Apr 07 07h 59m 56s +11° 48’ 38” 25.52 Cancer