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public  Minneapolis, United States Minneapolis, United States  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Chicago
Sunrise: 6:09 
Transit: 13:28 
Sunset: 20:47
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Comets » 

Comet 71P/Clark

Below the horizon.  Rise: 6:31 | Tran: 13:58 | Set: 21:28
Alt: -21.15°   Az: 25.82°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 71P/Clark is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 841,447,322.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 57m 45s and the Declination is +25° 03’ 46” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 71P/Clark is 24.33 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 71P/Clark in Taurus on May, 29 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 71P/Clark in Taurus on May, 29 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 71P/Clark is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

71P/Clark
RA: 04h 56m 12s
Dec: +25° 01’ 28”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 71P/Clark. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 71P/Clark?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 71P/Clark in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 57m 45s
+25° 03’ 46”
13h 46m 34s
18h 44m 20s

J2000

04h 56m 12s
+25° 01’ 28”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.33

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 71P/Clark from Minneapolis, United States (all times relative to the local timezone America/Chicago):

Azimuth: 64.9°
Max altitude: 76.0°
Azimuth: 295.1°

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 71P/Clark from Earth is currently 841,447,322.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.6247279327 Astronomical Units. Light takes 46m 46.766s to travel from Comet 71P/Clark and arrive to us.

841,447,322.0
5.6247279327
46m 46.766s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 71P/Clark 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 71P/Clark 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 71P/Clark 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 71P/Clark to Earth happens on Tue Jun 27 2006 at a distance of 0.585364 Astronomical Units, or 87,569,244 kilometers:

Tue Jun 27 2006
87,569,244
0.585364

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 71P/Clark, 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 71P/Clark as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 71P/Clark at epoch 31 May 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458635.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.49450343
Orbit inclination i 9.44449059°
Perihelion distance q 1.58667659 AU
237,363,440 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.69101815 AU
701,766,329 km
Semi-major axis a 3.13884737 AU
469,564,885 km
Orbital period period 5.5611 years
2,031.2049 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2017-Jun-30 08:48:25
2,457,934.8670 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Jan-21 13:43
2,459,966.0718 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 208.96965623934°
Longitude of the ascending node node 59.44353715572°
Mean anomaly M 124.17649209947°
Mean motion n 0.17723471°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 71P/Clark 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 May 22 04h 50m 23s +24° 48’ 50” 24.30 Taurus
2025 May 23 04h 51m 23s +24° 50’ 55” 24.31 Taurus
2025 May 24 04h 52m 22s +24° 52’ 59” 24.31 Taurus
2025 May 25 04h 53m 22s +24° 55’ 02” 24.31 Taurus
2025 May 26 04h 54m 22s +24° 57’ 04” 24.32 Taurus
2025 May 27 04h 55m 22s +24° 59’ 05” 24.32 Taurus
2025 May 28 04h 56m 22s +25° 01’ 04” 24.32 Taurus
2025 May 29 04h 57m 23s +25° 03’ 03” 24.33 Taurus
2025 May 30 04h 58m 23s +25° 05’ 01” 24.33 Taurus
2025 May 31 04h 59m 23s +25° 06’ 57” 24.33 Taurus
2025 Jun 01 05h 00m 24s +25° 08’ 53” 24.33 Taurus
2025 Jun 02 05h 01m 24s +25° 10’ 47” 24.34 Taurus
2025 Jun 03 05h 02m 24s +25° 12’ 39” 24.34 Taurus
2025 Jun 04 05h 03m 25s +25° 14’ 32” 24.34 Taurus

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