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public  Hall bei Admont, Austria Hall bei Admont, Austria  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Vienna
Sunrise: 5:19 
Transit: 12:58 
Sunset: 20:39
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Comets » 

Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -30.63°   Az: 220.95°   Direction: South-West

Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is in the constellation of Ara, at a distance of 5,694,277,944.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 06m 34s and the Declination is -54° 32’ 25” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is 46.29 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) in Ara on May, 21 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) in Ara on May, 21 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2006 P1 (McNaught)
RA: 17h 04m 29s
Dec: -54° 30’ 25”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 06m 34s
-54° 32’ 25”
05h 05m 42s
22h 12m 16s

J2000

17h 04m 29s
-54° 30’ 25”

Additional Information

Ara
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
46.29

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 McNaught (C/2006 P1) from Hall bei Admont, Austria (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Vienna):

Today Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is not visible from Hall bei Admont, Austria

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 McNaught (C/2006 P1) from Earth is currently 5,694,277,944.0 kilometers, equivalent to 38.0638970151 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5h 16m 34.067s to travel from Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) and arrive to us.

5,694,277,944.0
38.0638970151
5h 16m 34.067s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) 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 McNaught (C/2006 P1) 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/2006 P1 (McNaught) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) to Earth happens on Sun May 19 2013 at a distance of 18.313111 Astronomical Units, or 2,739,602,358 kilometers:

Sun May 19 2013
2,739,602,358
18.313111

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 McNaught (C/2006 P1), 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 McNaught (C/2006 P1) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) at epoch 25 November 2006 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454065.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00001882
Orbit inclination i 77.83700055°
Perihelion distance q 0.17073646 AU
25,541,812 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2007-Jan-12 19:10:20
2,454,113.2988 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 155.97496811491°
Longitude of the ascending node node 267.41480264354°
Mean anomaly M -5.4502812965141E-5°
Mean motion n 0.00000114°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1)
View Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) 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 14 17h 07m 44s -54° 31’ 16” 46.28 Ara
2025 May 15 17h 07m 35s -54° 31’ 27” 46.28 Ara
2025 May 16 17h 07m 25s -54° 31’ 40” 46.28 Ara
2025 May 17 17h 07m 16s -54° 31’ 50” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 18 17h 07m 06s -54° 31’ 59” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 19 17h 06m 56s -54° 32’ 08” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 20 17h 06m 46s -54° 32’ 16” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 21 17h 06m 36s -54° 32’ 23” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 22 17h 06m 26s -54° 32’ 30” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 23 17h 06m 16s -54° 32’ 35” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 24 17h 06m 06s -54° 32’ 39” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 25 17h 05m 56s -54° 32’ 43” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 26 17h 05m 46s -54° 32’ 45” 46.29 Ara
2025 May 27 17h 05m 35s -54° 32’ 48” 46.29 Ara

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