Comet 8P/Tuttle
Comet 8P/Tuttle Position
Comet 8P/Tuttle is currently in the constellation of Cygnus. The current Right Ascension is 21h 16m 15s and the Declination is +30° 06’ 42”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 8P/Tuttle is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 8P/Tuttle is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 8P/Tuttle?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 8P/Tuttle in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 8P/Tuttle Distance
The distance of Comet 8P/Tuttle from Earth is currently 846,540,360 kilometers, equivalent to 5.658773 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47 minutes and 3.7547 seconds to travel from Comet 8P/Tuttle and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 8P/Tuttle 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 8P/Tuttle from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 8P/Tuttle to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 8P/Tuttle to Earth happens on Mon Dec 28 2048 at a distance of 0.17536701 Astronomical Units, or 26,234,532 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 8P/Tuttle brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 8P/Tuttle is 28.57.
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 8P/Tuttle, 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 8P/Tuttle rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 8P/Tuttle 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 8P/Tuttle 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.
Comet 8P/Tuttle Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 8P/Tuttle at epoch 30 September 2007 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454374.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.81979975 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 54.98318484° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.02711659 AU 153,654,455 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
10.37260755 AU 1,551,720,007 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
5.69986207 AU 852,687,231 km |
| Orbital period | period |
13.6100 years 4,970.4413 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2008-Jan-27 00:36:47 2,454,492.5256 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2021-Sep-05 11:12 2,459,462.9668 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 207.50924597274° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 270.34165200508° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 351.45162452903° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.07242818°/day |
Visualization of Comet 8P/Tuttle Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 8P/Tuttle with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 8P/Tuttle 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!
View Comet 8P/Tuttle in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 8P/Tuttle 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 8P/Tuttle computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 8P/Tuttle in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 28 | 21h 11m 18s | +28° 54’ 55” | 28.70 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 21h 11m 57s | +29° 03’ 43” | 28.68 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 21h 12m 36s | +29° 12’ 37” | 28.66 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 21h 13m 14s | +29° 21’ 35” | 28.65 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 21h 13m 51s | +29° 30’ 38” | 28.63 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 21h 14m 29s | +29° 39’ 45” | 28.62 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 21h 15m 06s | +29° 48’ 56” | 28.60 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 21h 15m 42s | +29° 58’ 11” | 28.58 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 21h 16m 18s | +30° 07’ 32” | 28.57 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 21h 16m 54s | +30° 16’ 55” | 28.55 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 21h 17m 30s | +30° 26’ 24” | 28.53 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 21h 18m 06s | +30° 35’ 57” | 28.51 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 21h 18m 41s | +30° 45’ 33” | 28.50 | Cygnus |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 21h 19m 14s | +30° 55’ 14” | 28.48 | Cygnus |