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Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa

Below the horizon.  Rise: 4:20 | Tran: 11:08 | Set: 17:55
Alt: -7.65°   Az: 63.74°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 858,929,720.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 34m 05s and the Declination is +09° 43’ 25” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa is 44.87 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of 72P/Denning-Fujikawa in Leo on October,12 2024
Map showing Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa in Leo on October, 12 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 34m 05s
+09° 43’ 25”
16h 17m 33s
03h 51m 38s

J2000

11h 32m 48s
+09° 51’ 38”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
44.87

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 72P/Denning-Fujikawa from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 80.3°
Max altitude: 48.2°
Azimuth: 279.7°
  • 72P/Denning-Fujikawa is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 72P/Denning-Fujikawa 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.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of 72P/Denning-Fujikawa
Sky map showing Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa in Leo on October, 12 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

72P/Denning-Fujikawa
RA: 11h 32m 48s
Dec: +09° 51’ 38”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa from Earth is currently 858,929,720.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.7415905452 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47m 45.081s to travel from Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa and arrive to us.

858,929,720.0
5.7415905452
47m 45.081s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa 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 72P/Denning-Fujikawa 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 72P/Denning-Fujikawa from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa to Earth happens on Mon Aug 18 2059 at a distance of 0.172872 Astronomical Units, or 25,861,342 kilometers:

Mon Aug 18 2059
25,861,342
0.172872

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 72P/Denning-Fujikawa, 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 72P/Denning-Fujikawa as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa at epoch 19 November 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456981.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.81915453
Orbit inclination i 9.16928387°
Perihelion distance q 0.78416121 AU
117,308,847 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.88800726 AU
1,180,029,092 km
Semi-major axis a 4.33608423 AU
648,668,970 km
Orbital period period 9.0293 years
3,297.9570 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2014-Jul-11 15:17:35
2,456,850.1372 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Jul-22 14:15
2,460,148.0942 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 337.85804245663°
Longitude of the ascending node node 36.109196457752°
Mean anomaly M 14.3393624146°
Mean motion n 0.10915849°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa
View Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa 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
2024 Oct 05 11h 29m 03s +10° 13’ 54” 44.75 Leo
2024 Oct 06 11h 29m 47s +10° 09’ 30” 44.77 Leo
2024 Oct 07 11h 30m 30s +10° 05’ 08” 44.79 Leo
2024 Oct 08 11h 31m 13s +10° 00’ 48” 44.80 Leo
2024 Oct 09 11h 31m 54s +09° 56’ 30” 44.82 Leo
2024 Oct 10 11h 32m 36s +09° 52’ 14” 44.84 Leo
2024 Oct 11 11h 33m 19s +09° 48’ 01” 44.85 Leo
2024 Oct 12 11h 34m 00s +09° 43’ 50” 44.87 Leo
2024 Oct 13 11h 34m 42s +09° 39’ 43” 44.89 Leo
2024 Oct 14 11h 35m 23s +09° 35’ 37” 44.90 Leo
2024 Oct 15 11h 36m 04s +09° 31’ 33” 44.92 Leo
2024 Oct 16 11h 36m 44s +09° 27’ 33” 44.93 Leo
2024 Oct 17 11h 37m 25s +09° 23’ 35” 44.95 Leo
2024 Oct 18 11h 38m 05s +09° 19’ 40” 44.97 Leo

Additional Resources