Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is currently in the constellation of Orion. The current Right Ascension of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is 06h 06m 19s and the Declination is +20° 11’ 07” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is 23.00 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the East direction at an altitude of 19° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) available on TheSkyLive:
Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
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Also check out Where is Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,805,052,234 kilometers, equivalent to 12.066029 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 40 minutes and 21.0062 seconds to travel from Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Wed Apr 19 2017 at a distance of 1.17846402 Astronomical Units, or 176,295,708 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) is 23.00.
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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS), 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 29 April 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457873.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.99727852 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 6.34864767° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.04213190 AU 155,900,713 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
764.81441809 AU 114,414,608,657 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
382.92827500 AU 57,285,254,685 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7,493.4900 years 2,736,998.6292 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2017-May-09 22:39:09 2,457,883.4439 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 9511-Jan-02 13:45 5,194,882.0731 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 68.192254976405° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 235.22174569527° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 359.99869207424° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.00013153°/day |
Visualization of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 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 C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Jul 28 | 06h 04m 08s | +20° 13’ 04” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Jul 29 | 06h 04m 27s | +20° 12’ 48” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Jul 30 | 06h 04m 45s | +20° 12’ 33” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Jul 31 | 06h 05m 03s | +20° 12’ 16” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 01 | 06h 05m 22s | +20° 12’ 01” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 02 | 06h 05m 40s | +20° 11’ 44” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 03 | 06h 05m 58s | +20° 11’ 27” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 04 | 06h 06m 16s | +20° 11’ 11” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 05 | 06h 06m 34s | +20° 10’ 53” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 06 | 06h 06m 51s | +20° 10’ 36” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 07 | 06h 07m 09s | +20° 10’ 18” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 08 | 06h 07m 26s | +20° 09’ 59” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 09 | 06h 07m 42s | +20° 09’ 41” | 23.00 | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 10 | 06h 07m 59s | +20° 09’ 21” | 23.00 | Orion |