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public  Saint George's, Grenada Saint George's, Grenada  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Grenada
Sunrise: 5:49 
Transit: 12:12 
Sunset: 18:35
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Comets » 

Comet 78P/Gehrels

Above the horizon.  Rise: 19:32 | Tran: 1:26 | Set: 7:16
Alt: 65.20°   Az: 150.11°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet 78P/Gehrels is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 339,328,272.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 33m 22s and the Declination is -09° 33’ 22” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 78P/Gehrels, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 17.55.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 78P/Gehrels in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 78P/Gehrels in the constellation of Capricornus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 78P/Gehrels in the constellation of Capricornus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 78P/Gehrels against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

78P/Gehrels
RA: 20h 31m 59s
Dec: -09° 38’ 38”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 78P/Gehrels. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 33m 22s
-09° 33’ 22”
23h 11m 03s
19h 44m 25s

J2000

20h 31m 59s
-09° 38’ 38”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
17.55

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 78P/Gehrels from Saint George's, Grenada (all times relative to the local timezone America/Grenada):

Azimuth: 99.6°
Max altitude: 68.4°
Azimuth: 260.4°

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 339,328,272.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.2682693972 Astronomical Units. Light takes 18m 51.877s to travel from comet 78P/Gehrels and arrive to us.

339,328,272.0
2.2682693972
18m 51.877s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 78P/Gehrels from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 78P/Gehrels from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 78P/Gehrels from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 78P/Gehrels to Earth happened on Tuesday 9 November 2004 at a distance of 1.022782 Astronomical Units, or 153,005,944 kilometers:

Tuesday 9 November 2004
153,005,944
1.022782

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 78P/Gehrels, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 November, 27 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 January 12, 2012
2,455,938.6002 JD
Next perihelion transit April 3, 2019
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

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 78P/Gehrels relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jul 02 2025 20h 37m 41s -09° 28’ 31” 17.67 Capricornus
Jul 03 2025 20h 37m 07s -09° 28’ 52” 17.66 Capricornus
Jul 04 2025 20h 36m 33s -09° 29’ 20” 17.64 Capricornus
Jul 05 2025 20h 35m 59s -09° 29’ 54” 17.62 Capricornus
Jul 06 2025 20h 35m 23s -09° 30’ 34” 17.60 Capricornus
Jul 07 2025 20h 34m 46s -09° 31’ 20” 17.59 Capricornus
Jul 08 2025 20h 34m 09s -09° 32’ 12” 17.57 Capricornus
Jul 09 2025 20h 33m 30s -09° 33’ 11” 17.55 Capricornus
Jul 10 2025 20h 32m 50s -09° 34’ 14” 17.54 Capricornus
Jul 11 2025 20h 32m 10s -09° 35’ 24” 17.52 Capricornus
Jul 12 2025 20h 31m 29s -09° 36’ 39” 17.50 Capricornus
Jul 13 2025 20h 30m 47s -09° 38’ 00” 17.49 Capricornus
Jul 14 2025 20h 30m 05s -09° 39’ 28” 17.47 Capricornus
Jul 15 2025 20h 29m 22s -09° 41’ 01” 17.46 Capricornus

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