Comet 78P/Gehrels 2

Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 is 11h 54m 03s and the Declination is -02° 15’ 49” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 is 21.03 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 78P/Gehrels 2?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 78P/Gehrels 2?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 78P/Gehrels 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 from Earth is currently 609,812,703 kilometers, equivalent to 4.076346 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33 minutes and 54.1162 seconds to travel from Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 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.

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 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 to Earth happens on Thu Dec 31 2026 at a distance of 1.558255 Astronomical Units, or 233,111,629 kilometers:

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

Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 is 21.03.

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 78P/Gehrels 2, 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.

Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 rise and set times

Today's Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 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 78P/Gehrels 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 78P/Gehrels 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 May 05	11h 55m 46s	-02° 35’ 29”	20.95	Virgo
2021 May 06	11h 55m 31s	-02° 32’ 35”	20.96	Virgo
2021 May 07	11h 55m 14s	-02° 29’ 44”	20.98	Virgo
2021 May 08	11h 55m 00s	-02° 27’ 00”	20.99	Virgo
2021 May 09	11h 54m 46s	-02° 24’ 20”	21.00	Virgo
2021 May 10	11h 54m 32s	-02° 21’ 46”	21.01	Virgo
2021 May 11	11h 54m 20s	-02° 19’ 15”	21.02	Virgo
2021 May 12	11h 54m 07s	-02° 16’ 51”	21.03	Virgo
2021 May 13	11h 53m 57s	-02° 14’ 31”	21.04	Virgo
2021 May 14	11h 53m 45s	-02° 12’ 18”	21.05	Virgo
2021 May 15	11h 53m 36s	-02° 10’ 09”	21.06	Virgo
2021 May 16	11h 53m 27s	-02° 08’ 05”	21.07	Virgo
2021 May 17	11h 53m 20s	-02° 06’ 07”	21.09	Virgo
2021 May 18	11h 53m 12s	-02° 04’ 14”	21.10	Virgo