Comet 9P/Tempel 1
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Position
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension is 05h 56m 33s and the Declination is +25° 21’ 43”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 9P/Tempel 1 is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 9P/Tempel 1 is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 9P/Tempel 1?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 9P/Tempel 1 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Distance
The distance of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 from Earth is currently 623,549,680 kilometers, equivalent to 4.168172 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34 minutes and 39.9378 seconds to travel from Comet 9P/Tempel 1 and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 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 9P/Tempel 1 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 to Earth happens on Sat Jun 16 2040 at a distance of 0.94622147 Astronomical Units, or 141,552,717 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 is 22.20.
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 behvior 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 9P/Tempel 1, 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 9P/Tempel 1 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 9P/Tempel 1 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 9P/Tempel 1 touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 at epoch 24 May 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457533.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.50963079 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 10.47382731° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.54255066 AU 230,762,295 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.74883405 AU 710,415,464 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.14569236 AU 470,588,879 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.5800 years 2,037.8527 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Aug-02 13:51:46 2,457,603.0776 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2022-Mar-02 10:19 2,459,640.9304 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 179.20318192707° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 68.749704638324° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 347.70865910905° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.17665653°/day |
Visualization of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 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 9P/Tempel 1 in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 9P/Tempel 1 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Oct 11 | 05h 56m 57s | +25° 13’ 14” | 22.26 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 12 | 05h 56m 56s | +25° 14’ 26” | 22.25 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 13 | 05h 56m 54s | +25° 15’ 38” | 22.24 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 14 | 05h 56m 53s | +25° 16’ 50” | 22.23 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 15 | 05h 56m 49s | +25° 18’ 02” | 22.22 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 16 | 05h 56m 44s | +25° 19’ 14” | 22.22 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 17 | 05h 56m 39s | +25° 20’ 29” | 22.21 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 18 | 05h 56m 34s | +25° 21’ 42” | 22.20 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 19 | 05h 56m 26s | +25° 22’ 55” | 22.19 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 20 | 05h 56m 17s | +25° 24’ 10” | 22.18 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 21 | 05h 56m 08s | +25° 25’ 23” | 22.17 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 22 | 05h 55m 58s | +25° 26’ 38” | 22.16 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 23 | 05h 55m 45s | +25° 27’ 51” | 22.15 | Taurus |
| 2019 Oct 24 | 05h 55m 33s | +25° 29’ 07” | 22.14 | Taurus |