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Comet 78P/Gehrels

Below the horizon.  Rise: 0:07 | Tran: 5:17 | Set: 10:23
Alt: -5.59°   Az: 260.58°   Direction: West

Comet 78P/Gehrels is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 424,738,182.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 45m 23s and the Declination is -10° 14’ 17” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 78P/Gehrels is 18.34 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 78P/Gehrels in Aquarius on May, 29 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 78P/Gehrels in Aquarius 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 78P/Gehrels is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

78P/Gehrels
RA: 20h 44m 00s
Dec: -10° 19’ 52”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 78P/Gehrels. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 78P/Gehrels?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 78P/Gehrels in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 45m 23s
-10° 14’ 17”
05h 44m 26s
02h 29m 49s

J2000

20h 44m 00s
-10° 19’ 52”

Additional Information

Aquarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.34

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 78P/Gehrels from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 100.2°
Max altitude: 28.3°
Azimuth: 259.8°
  • 78P/Gehrels is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 78P/Gehrels 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 78P/Gehrels from Earth is currently 424,738,182.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.8391993817 Astronomical Units. Light takes 23m 36.774s to travel from Comet 78P/Gehrels and arrive to us.

424,738,182.0
2.8391993817
23m 36.774s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 78P/Gehrels 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 78P/Gehrels 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 78P/Gehrels 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 78P/Gehrels to Earth happens on Tue Nov 9 2004 at a distance of 1.022782 Astronomical Units, or 153,005,944 kilometers:

Tue Nov 9 2004
153,005,944
1.022782

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 78P/Gehrels, 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 78P/Gehrels as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 78P/Gehrels at epoch 27 November 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456989.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.46163398
Orbit inclination i 6.25268370°
Perihelion distance q 2.01154908 AU
300,923,459 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.46124453 AU
816,990,554 km
Semi-major axis a 3.73639680 AU
558,957,007 km
Orbital period period 7.2225 years
2,638.0190 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2012-Jan-12 02:24:19
2,455,938.6002 JD
Next perihelion transit 2019-Apr-03 02:51
2,458,576.6192 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 192.75458609607°
Longitude of the ascending node node 210.5626478481°
Mean anomaly M 143.41212896389°
Mean motion n 0.13646604°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 78P/Gehrels
View Comet 78P/Gehrels in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 78P/Gehrels 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 20h 44m 07s -10° 36’ 22” 18.49 Aquarius
2025 May 23 20h 44m 21s -10° 33’ 11” 18.47 Aquarius
2025 May 24 20h 44m 33s -10° 30’ 04” 18.45 Aquarius
2025 May 25 20h 44m 45s -10° 27’ 02” 18.43 Aquarius
2025 May 26 20h 44m 55s -10° 24’ 01” 18.41 Aquarius
2025 May 27 20h 45m 05s -10° 21’ 05” 18.39 Aquarius
2025 May 28 20h 45m 13s -10° 18’ 14” 18.37 Aquarius
2025 May 29 20h 45m 20s -10° 15’ 26” 18.35 Aquarius
2025 May 30 20h 45m 26s -10° 12’ 42” 18.33 Aquarius
2025 May 31 20h 45m 31s -10° 10’ 01” 18.31 Aquarius
2025 Jun 01 20h 45m 35s -10° 07’ 25” 18.29 Aquarius
2025 Jun 02 20h 45m 38s -10° 04’ 53” 18.27 Aquarius
2025 Jun 03 20h 45m 40s -10° 02’ 26” 18.25 Aquarius
2025 Jun 04 20h 45m 41s -10° 00’ 03” 18.23 Aquarius

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