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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 5:57  ☀️ Transit: 12:05  🌅 Sunset: 18:14

Comet 71P/Clark

Comet 71P/Clark is currently in the constellation of Capricornus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 71P/Clark is 21h 53m 48s and the Declination is -19° 12’ 03” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 71P/Clark is 16.27 (JPL).

21h 53m 48s
-19° 12’ 03”
Capricornus
16.27

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 71P/Clark from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 109.2°
Max altitude: 19.4°
Azimuth: 250.9°
  • 71P/Clark is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, 71P/Clark 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 71P/Clark Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 71P/Clark 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 71P/Clark in Capricornus on March, 23 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 71P/Clark in Capricornus on March, 23 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 71P/Clark is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

71P/Clark
RA: 21h 53m 48s
Dec: -19° 12’ 03”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 71P/Clark
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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.

Comet 71P/Clark Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 71P/Clark from Earth is currently 351,509,769 kilometers, equivalent to 2.349698 Astronomical Units. Light takes 19 minutes and 32.5104 seconds to travel from Comet 71P/Clark and arrive to us.

351,509,769
2.349698
19 minutes and 32.5104 seconds

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 of Comet 71P/Clark to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 71P/Clark to Earth happens on Sun Jun 11 2017 at a distance of 0.589846 Astronomical Units, or 88,239,685 kilometers:

Sun Jun 11 2017
88,239,685
0.589846

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

Comet 71P/Clark Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 71P/Clark is 16.27.

16.27
-
-

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 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

Comet 71P/Clark Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 71P/Clark at epoch 21 January 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458140.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.49442254
Orbit inclination i 9.44523607°
Perihelion distance q 1.58622783 AU
237,296,306 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.68868724 AU
701,417,630 km
Semi-major axis a 3.13745753 AU
469,356,968 km
Orbital period period 5.5574 years
2,029.8559 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2017-Jun-30 05:14:39
2,457,934.7185 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Jan-20 01:47
2,459,964.5744 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 208.92387872794°
Longitude of the ascending node node 59.445278678459°
Mean anomaly M 36.495858534825°
Mean motion n 0.17735249°/day

Visualization of Comet 71P/Clark Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 71P/Clark with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 71P/Clark 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!

Comet 71P/Clark 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 71P/Clark in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 16 21h 33m 51s -20° 30’ 14” 16.21 Capricornus
2023 Mar 17 21h 36m 39s -20° 19’ 37” 16.22 Capricornus
2023 Mar 18 21h 39m 28s -20° 08’ 57” 16.23 Capricornus
2023 Mar 19 21h 42m 15s -19° 58’ 09” 16.24 Capricornus
2023 Mar 20 21h 45m 01s -19° 47’ 18” 16.24 Capricornus
2023 Mar 21 21h 47m 47s -19° 36’ 23” 16.25 Capricornus
2023 Mar 22 21h 50m 30s -19° 25’ 22” 16.26 Capricornus
2023 Mar 23 21h 53m 14s -19° 14’ 17” 16.27 Capricornus
2023 Mar 24 21h 55m 57s -19° 03’ 07” 16.28 Capricornus
2023 Mar 25 21h 58m 38s -18° 51’ 55” 16.29 Capricornus
2023 Mar 26 22h 01m 19s -18° 40’ 38” 16.30 Aquarius
2023 Mar 27 22h 03m 59s -18° 29’ 18” 16.31 Aquarius
2023 Mar 28 22h 06m 38s -18° 17’ 57” 16.32 Aquarius
2023 Mar 29 22h 09m 15s -18° 06’ 30” 16.33 Aquarius