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 08m 51s and the Declination is +26° 30’ 47”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 9P/Tempel 1 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 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 713,089,742 kilometers, equivalent to 4.766711 Astronomical Units. Light takes 39 minutes and 38.6113 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 0.94638097 Astronomical Units, or 141,576,578 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 22.23.
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 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, 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 9P/Tempel 1 Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 at epoch 30 May 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457539.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.50962526 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 10.47386415° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.54254954 AU 230,762,128 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.74875962 AU 710,404,329 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.14565458 AU 470,583,228 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.5800 years 2,037.8160 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Aug-02 13:52:33 2,457,603.0782 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2022-Mar-02 09:27 2,459,640.8942 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 179.20358087344° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 68.749598031609° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 348.76829861189° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.17665972°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 29 | 05h 04m 05s | +26° 24’ 24” | 22.20 | Taurus |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 05h 04m 41s | +26° 25’ 15” | 22.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 05h 05m 20s | +26° 26’ 07” | 22.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 05h 05m 57s | +26° 26’ 58” | 22.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 05h 06m 37s | +26° 27’ 51” | 22.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 05h 07m 15s | +26° 28’ 44” | 22.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 05h 07m 57s | +26° 29’ 36” | 22.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 05h 08m 38s | +26° 30’ 29” | 22.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 05h 09m 19s | +26° 31’ 23” | 22.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 05h 10m 00s | +26° 32’ 17” | 22.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 05h 10m 44s | +26° 33’ 12” | 22.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 05h 11m 26s | +26° 34’ 06” | 22.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 05h 12m 11s | +26° 35’ 02” | 22.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 11 | 05h 12m 56s | +26° 35’ 57” | 22.25 | Taurus |