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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:03  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:09

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is currently in the constellation of Serpens. The current Right Ascension of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is 15h 15m 58s and the Declination is -00° 07’ 30” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is 17.76 (JPL).

15h 15m 58s
-00° 07’ 30”
Serpens
17.76

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 90.1°
Max altitude: 38.4°
Azimuth: 269.9°
  • Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 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.

Available Resources

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 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.

Map showing Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) in Serpens on March, 20 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) in Serpens on March, 20 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)
RA: 15h 15m 58s
Dec: -00° 07’ 30”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) from Earth is currently 957,587,253 kilometers, equivalent to 6.401075 Astronomical Units. Light takes 53 minutes and 14.1673 seconds to travel from Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) and arrive to us.

957,587,253
6.401075
53 minutes and 14.1673 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 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 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 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 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) to Earth

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) to Earth happens on Sun Oct 13 2024 at a distance of 0.476126 Astronomical Units, or 71,227,371 kilometers:

Sun Oct 13 2024
71,227,371
0.476126

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is 17.76.

17.76
-
-

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 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3), 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 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) as a function of time

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) at epoch 21 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459997.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99979084
Orbit inclination i 139.08799014°
Perihelion distance q 0.39045740 AU
58,411,595 km
Aphelion distance Q 3,733.23302205 AU
558,483,712,045 km
Semi-major axis a 1,866.81173972 AU
279,271,061,820 km
Orbital period period 80,660.1429 years
29,461,117.2080 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Sep-28 11:34:04
2,460,581.9820 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 308.58254303089°
Longitude of the ascending node node 21.580336863956°
Mean anomaly M 359.99285792459°
Mean motion n 0.00001222°/day

Visualization of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)
View Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 13 15h 18m 36s -00° 30’ 56” 17.85 Serpens
2023 Mar 14 15h 18m 16s -00° 27’ 51” 17.84 Serpens
2023 Mar 15 15h 17m 57s -00° 24’ 44” 17.82 Serpens
2023 Mar 16 15h 17m 36s -00° 21’ 36” 17.81 Serpens
2023 Mar 17 15h 17m 14s -00° 18’ 27” 17.80 Serpens
2023 Mar 18 15h 16m 53s -00° 15’ 15” 17.79 Serpens
2023 Mar 19 15h 16m 31s -00° 12’ 02” 17.78 Serpens
2023 Mar 20 15h 16m 08s -00° 08’ 47” 17.76 Serpens
2023 Mar 21 15h 15m 43s -00° 05’ 30” 17.75 Serpens
2023 Mar 22 15h 15m 20s -00° 02’ 13” 17.74 Serpens
2023 Mar 23 15h 14m 54s +00° 01’ 04” 17.73 Serpens
2023 Mar 24 15h 14m 29s +00° 04’ 23” 17.72 Serpens
2023 Mar 25 15h 14m 02s +00° 07’ 44” 17.71 Serpens
2023 Mar 26 15h 13m 35s +00° 11’ 06” 17.69 Serpens