We use cookies to deliver essential features and to measure their performance. Learn more.
Help us keep TheSkyLive 100% free & ads-free, donate now!
Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:16 
Transit: 12:14 
Sunset: 17:12
sunny   (Daytime)  
What's Visible Now • Tonight Timeline
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 71P/Clark

Below the horizon.  Rise: 10:03 | Tran: 17:58 | Set: 1:56
Alt: -10.95°   Az: 33.33°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 71P/Clark is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 648,634,776.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 38m 06s and the Declination is +21° 14’ 13” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 71P/Clark is 23.55 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 71P/Clark in Taurus on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 71P/Clark in Taurus on February, 14 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: 03h 36m 38s
Dec: +21° 09’ 19”
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

03h 38m 06s
+21° 14’ 13”
14h 21m 27s
17h 59m 33s

J2000

03h 36m 38s
+21° 09’ 19”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.55

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 Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 68.8°
Max altitude: 59.8°
Azimuth: 291.2°
  • 71P/Clark is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 71P/Clark from Earth is currently 648,634,776.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.3358556707 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36m 3.613s to travel from Comet 71P/Clark and arrive to us.

648,634,776.0
4.3358556707
36m 3.613s

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

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 Feb 07 03h 36m 17s +21° 05’ 17” 23.47 Taurus
2025 Feb 08 03h 36m 29s +21° 06’ 21” 23.48 Taurus
2025 Feb 09 03h 36m 41s +21° 07’ 29” 23.49 Taurus
2025 Feb 10 03h 36m 55s +21° 08’ 38” 23.50 Taurus
2025 Feb 11 03h 37m 10s +21° 09’ 51” 23.51 Taurus
2025 Feb 12 03h 37m 25s +21° 11’ 06” 23.52 Taurus
2025 Feb 13 03h 37m 42s +21° 12’ 24” 23.54 Taurus
2025 Feb 14 03h 37m 59s +21° 13’ 44” 23.55 Taurus
2025 Feb 15 03h 38m 17s +21° 15’ 07” 23.56 Taurus
2025 Feb 16 03h 38m 36s +21° 16’ 32” 23.57 Taurus
2025 Feb 17 03h 38m 56s +21° 18’ 00” 23.58 Taurus
2025 Feb 18 03h 39m 16s +21° 19’ 30” 23.59 Taurus
2025 Feb 19 03h 39m 38s +21° 21’ 02” 23.60 Taurus
2025 Feb 20 03h 40m 01s +21° 22’ 37” 23.62 Taurus

Additional Resources