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Comets » 

Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 44.28°   Az: 38.62°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Draco, at a distance of 846,632,490.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 18h 05m 54s and the Declination is +63° 27’ 39” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 25.60).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in the constellation of Draco on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in the constellation of Draco 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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (ATLAS)
RA: 18h 05m 44s
Dec: +63° 27’ 26”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

18h 05m 54s
+63° 27’ 39”
17h 58m 33s
12h 04m 27s

J2000

18h 05m 44s
+63° 27’ 26”

Additional Information

Draco
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.60

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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is circumpolar and transits at 23:52 UTC reaching a maximum altitude of 78.0°.

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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 846,632,490.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.6593886399 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47m 4.062s to travel from comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

846,632,490.0
5.6593886399
47m 4.062s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) to Earth happened on Friday 12 April 2024 at a distance of 0.941512 Astronomical Units, or 140,848,192 kilometers:

Friday 12 April 2024
140,848,192
0.941512

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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) at epoch February, 15 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460356.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.96979736
Orbit inclination i 79.18307755°
Perihelion distance q 1.46630867 AU
219,356,656 km
Aphelion distance Q 95.63173096 AU
14,306,303,352 km
Semi-major axis a 48.54901982 AU
7,262,830,004 km
Orbital period period 338.2820 years
123,557.5039 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp January 29, 2024
2,460,339.2775 JD
Next perihelion transit May 15, 2362
2,583,896.7813 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 321.19101380123°
Longitude of the ascending node node 220.5921236474°
Mean anomaly M 0.050179961852602°
Mean motion n 0.00291362°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (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 18h 15m 02s +63° 16’ 12” 25.53 Draco
Jun 18 2025 18h 13m 51s +63° 18’ 25” 25.54 Draco
Jun 19 2025 18h 12m 40s +63° 20’ 24” 25.55 Draco
Jun 20 2025 18h 11m 29s +63° 22’ 10” 25.56 Draco
Jun 21 2025 18h 10m 19s +63° 23’ 44” 25.57 Draco
Jun 22 2025 18h 09m 08s +63° 25’ 04” 25.58 Draco
Jun 23 2025 18h 07m 57s +63° 26’ 11” 25.59 Draco
Jun 24 2025 18h 06m 47s +63° 27’ 06” 25.59 Draco
Jun 25 2025 18h 05m 36s +63° 27’ 48” 25.60 Draco
Jun 26 2025 18h 04m 26s +63° 28’ 18” 25.61 Draco
Jun 27 2025 18h 03m 16s +63° 28’ 34” 25.62 Draco
Jun 28 2025 18h 02m 07s +63° 28’ 39” 25.63 Draco
Jun 29 2025 18h 00m 57s +63° 28’ 30” 25.64 Draco
Jun 30 2025 17h 59m 49s +63° 28’ 09” 25.65 Draco

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