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Comet 94P/Russell

Below the horizon.  Rise: 7:01 | Tran: 10:48 | Set: 14:35
Alt: -54.59°   Az: 311.80°   Direction: North-West

Comet 94P/Russell is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 736,817,723.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 16m 20s and the Declination is -23° 23’ 48” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 94P/Russell is 22.31 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 94P/Russell in Capricornus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 94P/Russell in Capricornus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 94P/Russell is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

94P/Russell
RA: 20h 14m 50s
Dec: -23° 28’ 29”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 94P/Russell. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 94P/Russell?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 94P/Russell in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 16m 20s
-23° 23’ 48”
10h 07m 40s
06h 24m 00s

J2000

20h 14m 50s
-23° 28’ 29”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.31

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 94P/Russell from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 113.4°
Max altitude: 15.1°
Azimuth: 246.6°
  • 94P/Russell is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 94P/Russell 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 94P/Russell from Earth is currently 736,817,723.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9253222626 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 57.759s to travel from Comet 94P/Russell and arrive to us.

736,817,723.0
4.9253222626
40m 57.759s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 94P/Russell 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 94P/Russell 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 94P/Russell 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 94P/Russell to Earth happens on Tue Feb 23 2010 at a distance of 1.275150 Astronomical Units, or 190,759,767 kilometers:

Tue Feb 23 2010
190,759,767
1.275150

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 94P/Russell, 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 94P/Russell as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 94P/Russell at epoch 26 October 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456592.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.36387421
Orbit inclination i 6.18391849°
Perihelion distance q 2.23406307 AU
334,211,079 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.78990332 AU
716,559,340 km
Semi-major axis a 3.51198320 AU
525,385,209 km
Orbital period period 6.5817 years
2,403.9591 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2016-Oct-28 00:26:52
2,457,689.5187 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-May-28 23:27
2,460,093.4778 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 92.663101402853°
Longitude of the ascending node node 70.90800527207°
Mean anomaly M 195.71820172493°
Mean motion n 0.14975296°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 94P/Russell
View Comet 94P/Russell in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 94P/Russell 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 Feb 04 20h 07m 01s -23° 46’ 58” 22.30 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 05 20h 08m 13s -23° 44’ 04” 22.30 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 06 20h 09m 25s -23° 41’ 08” 22.30 Capricornus
2025 Feb 07 20h 10m 36s -23° 38’ 12” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 08 20h 11m 47s -23° 35’ 16” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 09 20h 12m 58s -23° 32’ 19” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 10 20h 14m 09s -23° 29’ 22” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 11 20h 15m 19s -23° 26’ 23” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 12 20h 16m 29s -23° 23’ 25” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 13 20h 17m 39s -23° 20’ 26” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 14 20h 18m 48s -23° 17’ 27” 22.31 Capricornus
2025 Feb 15 20h 19m 57s -23° 14’ 28” 22.32 Capricornus
2025 Feb 16 20h 21m 05s -23° 11’ 28” 22.32 Capricornus
2025 Feb 17 20h 22m 13s -23° 08’ 28” 22.32 Capricornus

Additional Resources