Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS)
Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) Position
Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) is currently in the constellation of Pisces. The current Right Ascension is 01h 19m 44s and the Declination is +19° 36’ 39”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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 C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) Distance
The distance of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 910,582,868 kilometers, equivalent to 6.086871 Astronomical Units. Light takes 50 minutes and 37.3775 seconds to travel from Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Thu Jan 10 2019 at a distance of 2.60580542 Astronomical Units, or 389,822,943 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) is 19.36.
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/2018 A3 (ATLAS), 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) at epoch 03 November 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458426.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.99337126 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 139.56189176° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 3.27671908 AU 490,190,198 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
985.36309228 AU 147,408,220,767 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
494.31990568 AU 73,949,205,483 km |
| Orbital period | period |
10,990.5700 years 4,014,306.9367 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2019-Jan-12 20:42:48 2,458,496.3631 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 13009-Oct-31 19:11 6,472,803.2998 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 86.425800401297° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 194.27884769616° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 359.99373473369° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.00008968°/day |
Visualization of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 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/2018 A3 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 22 | 01h 16m 12s | +19° 45’ 41” | 19.29 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 23 | 01h 16m 40s | +19° 44’ 20” | 19.30 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 24 | 01h 17m 08s | +19° 43’ 00” | 19.31 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 01h 17m 35s | +19° 41’ 45” | 19.32 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 01h 18m 03s | +19° 40’ 32” | 19.32 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 01h 18m 32s | +19° 39’ 24” | 19.33 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 01h 19m 00s | +19° 38’ 17” | 19.34 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 01h 19m 28s | +19° 37’ 13” | 19.35 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 01h 19m 57s | +19° 36’ 11” | 19.36 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 01h 20m 25s | +19° 35’ 13” | 19.36 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 01h 20m 53s | +19° 34’ 18” | 19.37 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 01h 21m 21s | +19° 33’ 24” | 19.38 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 01h 21m 50s | +19° 32’ 34” | 19.39 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 01h 22m 18s | +19° 31’ 45” | 19.39 | Pisces |