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Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 30.95°   Az: 28.80°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Draco, at a distance of 801,833,319.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 18h 45m 41s and the Declination is +60° 30’ 33” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is 25.24 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in Draco on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in Draco on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2024 C4 (ATLAS)
RA: 18h 45m 21s
Dec: +60° 28’ 53”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

18h 45m 41s
+60° 30’ 33”
15h 48m 15s
10h 33m 56s

J2000

18h 45m 21s
+60° 28’ 53”

Additional Information

Draco
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.24

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/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 03:05 UTC reaching a maximum altitude of 81.0°.
  • C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the North-North-East direction at an altitude of 30.95° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 801,833,319.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3599246784 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 34.628s to travel from Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

801,833,319.0
5.3599246784
44m 34.628s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (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/2024 C4 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Fri Apr 12 2024 at a distance of 0.941512 Astronomical Units, or 140,848,192 kilometers:

Fri Apr 12 2024
140,848,192
0.941512

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/2024 C4 (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/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 15 February 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 2024-Jan-29 18:39:33
2,460,339.2775 JD
Next perihelion transit 2362-May-15 06:45
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
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS)
View Comet C/2024 C4 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 May 10 18h 50m 54s +59° 19’ 57” 25.16 Draco
2025 May 11 18h 50m 19s +59° 29’ 34” 25.17 Draco
2025 May 12 18h 49m 42s +59° 39’ 00” 25.18 Draco
2025 May 13 18h 49m 04s +59° 48’ 19” 25.19 Draco
2025 May 14 18h 48m 23s +59° 57’ 27” 25.20 Draco
2025 May 15 18h 47m 42s +60° 06’ 25” 25.21 Draco
2025 May 16 18h 47m 00s +60° 15’ 15” 25.22 Draco
2025 May 17 18h 46m 16s +60° 23’ 53” 25.23 Draco
2025 May 18 18h 45m 31s +60° 32’ 21” 25.24 Draco
2025 May 19 18h 44m 44s +60° 40’ 40” 25.25 Draco
2025 May 20 18h 43m 57s +60° 48’ 48” 25.26 Draco
2025 May 21 18h 43m 08s +60° 56’ 45” 25.27 Draco
2025 May 22 18h 42m 18s +61° 04’ 31” 25.28 Draco
2025 May 23 18h 41m 27s +61° 12’ 07” 25.29 Draco

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