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Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 17:00 | Tran: 2:00 | Set: 10:53
Alt: 63.96°   Az: 142.58°   Direction: South-West

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is in the constellation of Lyra, at a distance of 533,196,197.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 08m 22s and the Declination is +29° 03’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The latest observed magnitude of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is 17.1 (data provided by COBS).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the constellation of Lyra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the constellation of Lyra on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
RA: 19h 07m 22s
Dec: +29° 01’ 30”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 08m 22s
+29° 03’ 59”
22h 48m 55s
17h 57m 17s

J2000

19h 07m 22s
+29° 01’ 30”

Additional Information

Lyra
17.1
0.3'
n/a
2025-06-21
14.64

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 60.9°
Max altitude: 67.6°
Azimuth: 299.1°

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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from Earth is currently 533,196,197.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.5641964321 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29m 38.551s to travel from comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) and arrive to us.

533,196,197.0
3.5641964321
29m 38.551s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) to Earth happened on Sunday 13 October 2024 at a distance of 0.472744 Astronomical Units, or 70,721,499 kilometers:

Sunday 13 October 2024
70,721,499
0.472744

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) at epoch January, 24 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460334.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00012475
Orbit inclination i 139.11502467°
Perihelion distance q 0.39145906 AU
58,561,442 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 27, 2024
2,460,581.2353 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 308.4872848828°
Longitude of the ascending node node 21.558609111275°
Mean anomaly M -0.0013834563352416°
Mean motion n 0.00000561°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 17 2025 19h 20m 26s +29° 03’ 08” 14.57 Lyra
Jun 18 2025 19h 18m 56s +29° 04’ 12” 14.58 Lyra
Jun 19 2025 19h 17m 25s +29° 05’ 00” 14.59 Lyra
Jun 20 2025 19h 15m 55s +29° 05’ 31” 14.59 Lyra
Jun 21 2025 19h 14m 24s +29° 05’ 45” 14.60 Lyra
Jun 22 2025 19h 12m 53s +29° 05’ 44” 14.61 Lyra
Jun 23 2025 19h 11m 23s +29° 05’ 25” 14.62 Lyra
Jun 24 2025 19h 09m 52s +29° 04’ 51” 14.63 Lyra
Jun 25 2025 19h 08m 21s +29° 03’ 59” 14.64 Lyra
Jun 26 2025 19h 06m 51s +29° 02’ 51” 14.65 Lyra
Jun 27 2025 19h 05m 20s +29° 01’ 27” 14.66 Lyra
Jun 28 2025 19h 03m 50s +28° 59’ 47” 14.67 Lyra
Jun 29 2025 19h 02m 20s +28° 57’ 50” 14.68 Lyra
Jun 30 2025 19h 00m 51s +28° 55’ 37” 14.69 Lyra

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