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public  Ottershaw, United Kingdom Ottershaw, United Kingdom  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:52 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 21:19
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Comets » 

Comet 6P/d'Arrest

Above the horizon.  Rise: 8:20 | Tran: 15:47 | Set: 23:15
Alt: 38.13°   Az: 112.82°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 6P/d'Arrest is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 941,506,368.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 29m 21s and the Declination is +16° 57’ 54” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 6P/d'Arrest, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 26.21).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 6P/d'Arrest in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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.

6P/d'Arrest
RA: 09h 27m 56s
Dec: +17° 04’ 37”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 6P/d'Arrest. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 29m 21s
+16° 57’ 54”
20h 42m 50s
06h 12m 12s

J2000

09h 27m 56s
+17° 04’ 37”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
26.21

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 6P/d'Arrest from Ottershaw, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 73.0°
Max altitude: 55.6°
Azimuth: 286.9°

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 6P/d'Arrest from Earth is currently 941,506,368.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.2935813431 Astronomical Units. Light takes 52m 20.527s to travel from comet 6P/d'Arrest and arrive to us.

941,506,368.0
6.2935813431
52m 20.527s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest to Earth will happen on Wednesday 7 August 2047 at a distance of 0.336992 Astronomical Units, or 50,413,268 kilometers:

Wednesday 7 August 2047
50,413,268
0.336992

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 6P/d'Arrest, 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 6P/d'Arrest as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 6P/d'Arrest at epoch March, 28 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459302.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.61267012
Orbit inclination i 19.51243095°
Perihelion distance q 1.35458525 AU
202,643,070 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.63989328 AU
843,716,027 km
Semi-major axis a 3.49723927 AU
523,179,549 km
Orbital period period 6.5403 years
2,388.8366 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 17, 2021
2,459,475.2893 JD
Next perihelion transit April 2, 2028
2,461,864.1259 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 178.10645985005°
Longitude of the ascending node node 138.93710032586°
Mean anomaly M 333.96048528036°
Mean motion n 0.15070097°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 25 2025 09h 24m 40s +17° 15’ 02” 26.19 Leo
Jun 26 2025 09h 25m 17s +17° 12’ 50” 26.19 Leo
Jun 27 2025 09h 25m 54s +17° 10’ 36” 26.20 Leo
Jun 28 2025 09h 26m 31s +17° 08’ 21” 26.20 Leo
Jun 29 2025 09h 27m 08s +17° 06’ 04” 26.20 Leo
Jun 30 2025 09h 27m 46s +17° 03’ 45” 26.20 Leo
Jul 01 2025 09h 28m 24s +17° 01’ 24” 26.21 Leo
Jul 02 2025 09h 29m 02s +16° 59’ 02” 26.21 Leo
Jul 03 2025 09h 29m 41s +16° 56’ 39” 26.21 Leo
Jul 04 2025 09h 30m 20s +16° 54’ 13” 26.21 Leo
Jul 05 2025 09h 30m 59s +16° 51’ 46” 26.22 Leo
Jul 06 2025 09h 31m 39s +16° 49’ 18” 26.22 Leo
Jul 07 2025 09h 32m 18s +16° 46’ 47” 26.22 Leo
Jul 08 2025 09h 32m 58s +16° 44’ 16” 26.22 Leo

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