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Comets » 

Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 7:52 | Tran: 12:46 | Set: 17:40
Alt: -36.21°   Az: 60.48°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Eridanus, at a distance of 1,212,109,097.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 31m 52s and the Declination is -12° 23’ 44” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is 26.77 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) in Eridanus on May, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) in Eridanus on May, 18 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)
RA: 03h 30m 40s
Dec: -12° 28’ 51”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 31m 52s
-12° 23’ 44”
15h 03m 49s
18h 35m 42s

J2000

03h 30m 40s
-12° 28’ 51”

Additional Information

Eridanus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
26.77

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.4°
Max altitude: 26.1°
Azimuth: 257.6°
  • C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 1,212,109,097.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.1024488606 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 7m 23.161s to travel from Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

1,212,109,097.0
8.1024488606
1h 7m 23.161s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2023 E1 (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.

Chart of the distance of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) 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 C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Fri Aug 18 2023 at a distance of 0.374480 Astronomical Units, or 56,021,408 kilometers:

Fri Aug 18 2023
56,021,408
0.374480

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet C/2023 E1 (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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) at epoch 01 July 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460127.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.94690275
Orbit inclination i 38.31298257°
Perihelion distance q 1.02660506 AU
153,577,932 km
Aphelion distance Q 37.64225360 AU
5,631,200,998 km
Semi-major axis a 19.33442933 AU
2,892,389,465 km
Orbital period period 85.0169 years
31,052.4209 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Jul-01 02:34:44
2,460,126.6075 JD
Next perihelion transit 2108-Jul-07 12:40
2,491,179.0283 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 105.89461549356°
Longitude of the ascending node node 164.57421216554°
Mean anomaly M 0.010347475456454°
Mean motion n 0.01159330°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)
View Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2023 E1 (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
2025 May 11 03h 27m 46s -12° 33’ 19” 26.74 Eridanus
2025 May 12 03h 28m 20s -12° 31’ 47” 26.74 Eridanus
2025 May 13 03h 28m 55s -12° 30’ 19” 26.75 Eridanus
2025 May 14 03h 29m 30s -12° 28’ 54” 26.75 Eridanus
2025 May 15 03h 30m 04s -12° 27’ 33” 26.76 Eridanus
2025 May 16 03h 30m 39s -12° 26’ 16” 26.76 Eridanus
2025 May 17 03h 31m 13s -12° 25’ 02” 26.77 Eridanus
2025 May 18 03h 31m 48s -12° 23’ 52” 26.77 Eridanus
2025 May 19 03h 32m 22s -12° 22’ 46” 26.78 Eridanus
2025 May 20 03h 32m 57s -12° 21’ 43” 26.78 Eridanus
2025 May 21 03h 33m 31s -12° 20’ 44” 26.78 Eridanus
2025 May 22 03h 34m 05s -12° 19’ 49” 26.79 Eridanus
2025 May 23 03h 34m 39s -12° 18’ 57” 26.79 Eridanus
2025 May 24 03h 35m 13s -12° 18’ 10” 26.80 Eridanus

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