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Comet 8P/Tuttle

Below the horizon.  Rise: 23:01 | Tran: 4:00 | Set: 8:54
Alt: -49.98°   Az: 15.72°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 8P/Tuttle is in the constellation of Scutum, at a distance of 1,216,833,055.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 18h 48m 02s and the Declination is -12° 20’ 30” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 8P/Tuttle is 23.42 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 8P/Tuttle in Scutum on May, 19 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 8P/Tuttle in Scutum on May, 19 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 8P/Tuttle is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

8P/Tuttle
RA: 18h 46m 37s
Dec: -12° 22’ 15”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 8P/Tuttle. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

18h 48m 02s
-12° 20’ 30”
12h 41m 05s
07h 29m 07s

J2000

18h 46m 37s
-12° 22’ 15”

Additional Information

Scutum
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.42

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 8P/Tuttle from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.3°
Max altitude: 26.2°
Azimuth: 257.7°
  • 8P/Tuttle is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 8P/Tuttle 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 8P/Tuttle from Earth is currently 1,216,833,055.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.1340265694 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 7m 38.918s to travel from Comet 8P/Tuttle and arrive to us.

1,216,833,055.0
8.1340265694
1h 7m 38.918s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 8P/Tuttle 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 8P/Tuttle 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 8P/Tuttle to Earth happens on Mon Dec 28 2048 at a distance of 0.175435 Astronomical Units, or 26,244,724 kilometers:

Mon Dec 28 2048
26,244,724
0.175435

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 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 8P/Tuttle as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 8P/Tuttle at epoch 22 August 2008 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454701.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.81978762
Orbit inclination i 54.98196883°
Perihelion distance q 1.02726309 AU
153,676,372 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.37331963 AU
1,551,826,532 km
Semi-major axis a 5.70029136 AU
852,751,452 km
Orbital period period 13.6099 years
4,971.0028 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2008-Jan-27 00:25:56
2,454,492.5180 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Sep-06 00:29
2,459,463.5208 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 207.51151750851°
Longitude of the ascending node node 270.34216157066°
Mean anomaly M 15.13447433004°
Mean motion n 0.07242000°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 May 12 18h 50m 20s -12° 31’ 45” 23.44 Scutum
2025 May 13 18h 50m 03s -12° 30’ 13” 23.43 Scutum
2025 May 14 18h 49m 46s -12° 28’ 42” 23.43 Scutum
2025 May 15 18h 49m 28s -12° 27’ 13” 23.43 Scutum
2025 May 16 18h 49m 10s -12° 25’ 44” 23.43 Scutum
2025 May 17 18h 48m 52s -12° 24’ 17” 23.43 Scutum
2025 May 18 18h 48m 34s -12° 22’ 51” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 19 18h 48m 15s -12° 21’ 25” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 20 18h 47m 55s -12° 20’ 01” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 21 18h 47m 35s -12° 18’ 39” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 22 18h 47m 15s -12° 17’ 17” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 23 18h 46m 55s -12° 15’ 56” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 24 18h 46m 34s -12° 14’ 37” 23.42 Scutum
2025 May 25 18h 46m 13s -12° 13’ 19” 23.41 Scutum

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