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Comets » 

Comet 6P/d'Arrest

Above the horizon.  Rise: 16:13 | Tran: 23:33 | Set: 6:57
Alt: 33.79°   Az: 108.64°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 6P/d'Arrest was discovered by Heinrich Louis d'Arrest on June 28, 1851. It has an orbital period of approximately 6.5 years and its perihelion distance is about 1.4 astronomical units (AU), while its aphelion distance is around 5.6 AU.

Comet 6P/d'Arrest is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 696,250,227.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 22m 11s and the Declination is +15° 38’ 45” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 6P/d'Arrest is 25.62 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 6P/d'Arrest in Cancer on February, 16 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 6P/d'Arrest in Cancer on February, 16 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 6P/d'Arrest is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

6P/d'Arrest
RA: 09h 20m 48s
Dec: +15° 45’ 13”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 6P/d'Arrest. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 6P/d'Arrest?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 6P/d'Arrest in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 22m 11s
+15° 38’ 45”
20h 20m 32s
05h 42m 43s

J2000

09h 20m 48s
+15° 45’ 13”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.62

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

Azimuth: 74.4°
Max altitude: 54.2°
Azimuth: 285.6°
  • 6P/d'Arrest is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 33.79° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest from Earth is currently 696,250,227.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6541453013 Astronomical Units. Light takes 38m 42.441s to travel from Comet 6P/d'Arrest and arrive to us.

696,250,227.0
4.6541453013
38m 42.441s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest 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 6P/d'Arrest to Earth happens on Wed Aug 7 2047 at a distance of 0.336992 Astronomical Units, or 50,413,268 kilometers:

Wed Aug 7 2047
50,413,268
0.336992

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 6P/d'Arrest at epoch 28 March 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 2021-Sep-17 18:56:35
2,459,475.2893 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Apr-02 15:01
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 6P/d'Arrest
View Comet 6P/d'Arrest in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Feb 09 09h 26m 59s +15° 07’ 01” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 10 09h 26m 22s +15° 11’ 08” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 11 09h 25m 45s +15° 15’ 12” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 12 09h 25m 08s +15° 19’ 17” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 13 09h 24m 31s +15° 23’ 21” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 14 09h 23m 55s +15° 27’ 24” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 15 09h 23m 18s +15° 31’ 26” 25.62 Leo
2025 Feb 16 09h 22m 41s +15° 35’ 27” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 17 09h 22m 05s +15° 39’ 26” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 18 09h 21m 29s +15° 43’ 23” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 19 09h 20m 53s +15° 47’ 19” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 20 09h 20m 17s +15° 51’ 14” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 21 09h 19m 42s +15° 55’ 07” 25.62 Cancer
2025 Feb 22 09h 19m 06s +15° 58’ 59” 25.63 Cancer

Additional Resources