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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:01  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:11

Comet 70P/Kojima

Comet 70P/Kojima is currently in the constellation of Ophiucus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 70P/Kojima is 17h 11m 26s and the Declination is -16° 58’ 47” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 70P/Kojima is 21.87 (JPL).

17h 11m 26s
-16° 58’ 47”
Ophiucus
21.87

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 70P/Kojima from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 107.0°
Max altitude: 21.5°
Azimuth: 253.0°
  • 70P/Kojima is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, 70P/Kojima 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 70P/Kojima Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 70P/Kojima 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 70P/Kojima in Ophiucus on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 70P/Kojima in Ophiucus on March, 21 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 70P/Kojima is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

70P/Kojima
RA: 17h 11m 26s
Dec: -16° 58’ 47”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 70P/Kojima
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 70P/Kojima?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 70P/Kojima in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 70P/Kojima Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 70P/Kojima from Earth is currently 527,401,033 kilometers, equivalent to 3.525458 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29 minutes and 19.2205 seconds to travel from Comet 70P/Kojima and arrive to us.

527,401,033
3.525458
29 minutes and 19.2205 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 70P/Kojima 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 70P/Kojima 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 70P/Kojima from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 70P/Kojima to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 70P/Kojima to Earth happens on Sun Feb 18 2029 at a distance of 1.158527 Astronomical Units, or 173,313,236 kilometers:

Sun Feb 18 2029
173,313,236
1.158527

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

Comet 70P/Kojima Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 70P/Kojima is 21.87.

21.87
-
-

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 70P/Kojima, 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 70P/Kojima as a function of time

Comet 70P/Kojima Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 70P/Kojima at epoch 07 April 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457120.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.45395742
Orbit inclination i 6.60014557°
Perihelion distance q 2.00660699 AU
300,184,134 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.34302855 AU
799,305,696 km
Semi-major axis a 3.67481777 AU
549,744,915 km
Orbital period period 7.0447 years
2,573.0732 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2014-Oct-20 16:24:29
2,456,951.1837 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Nov-05 18:09
2,459,524.2569 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 1.9587045438714°
Longitude of the ascending node node 119.27075416869°
Mean anomaly M 23.689134276994°
Mean motion n 0.13991052°/day

Visualization of Comet 70P/Kojima Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 70P/Kojima with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 70P/Kojima 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 70P/Kojima
View Comet 70P/Kojima in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 70P/Kojima 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 70P/Kojima computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 70P/Kojima in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 14 17h 09m 18s -17° 03’ 56” 21.89 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 15 17h 09m 38s -17° 03’ 21” 21.89 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 16 17h 09m 56s -17° 02’ 45” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 17 17h 10m 15s -17° 02’ 07” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 18 17h 10m 32s -17° 01’ 27” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 19 17h 10m 49s -17° 00’ 46” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 20 17h 11m 03s -17° 00’ 02” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 21 17h 11m 17s -16° 59’ 17” 21.88 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 22 17h 11m 30s -16° 58’ 32” 21.87 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 23 17h 11m 42s -16° 57’ 44” 21.87 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 24 17h 11m 53s -16° 56’ 56” 21.87 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 25 17h 12m 02s -16° 56’ 05” 21.87 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 26 17h 12m 11s -16° 55’ 14” 21.87 Ophiucus
2023 Mar 27 17h 12m 17s -16° 54’ 23” 21.87 Ophiucus