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public  Aya, Russia Aya, Russia  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Omsk
Sunrise: 4:00 
Transit: 12:19 
Sunset: 20:39
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Comets » 

Comet C/1975 V1-A (West)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 21:01 | Tran: 1:32 | Set: 6:07
Alt: -49.44°   Az: 322.64°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet C/1975 V1-A (West) is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 11,161,628,191.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 40m 18s and the Declination is -16° 14’ 31” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/1975 V1-A (West), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 29.26).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) in the constellation of Sagittarius on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) in the constellation of Sagittarius 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/1975 V1-A (West) 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/1975 V1-A (West)
RA: 19h 38m 51s
Dec: -16° 18’ 06”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/1975 V1-A (West). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 40m 18s
-16° 14’ 31”
10h 22m 55s
06h 03m 14s

J2000

19h 38m 51s
-16° 18’ 06”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
29.26

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/1975 V1-A (West) from Aya, Russia (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Omsk):

Azimuth: 106.2°
Max altitude: 21.8°
Azimuth: 253.8°

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/1975 V1-A (West) from Earth is currently 11,161,628,191.0 kilometers, equivalent to 74.6108760691 Astronomical Units. Light takes 10h 20m 31.184s to travel from comet C/1975 V1-A (West) and arrive to us.

11,161,628,191.0
74.6108760691
10h 20m 31.184s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) 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/1975 V1-A (West) 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/1975 V1-A (West) 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, 2013 and December 30, 2100, the closest approach of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) to Earth happened on Friday 5 July 2013 at a distance of 61.737494 Astronomical Units, or 9,235,797,721 kilometers:

Friday 5 July 2013
9,235,797,721
61.737494

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/1975 V1-A (West), 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/1975 V1-A (West) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) at epoch May, 09 1976 00:00 UTC (JD: 2442908.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00001609
Orbit inclination i 43.07404350°
Perihelion distance q 0.19659497 AU
29,410,189 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp February 25, 1976
2,442,833.7220 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 358.43172080872°
Longitude of the ascending node node 118.91753467696°
Mean anomaly M 5.455779729386E-5°
Mean motion n 0.00000073°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/1975 V1-A (West) 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/1975 V1-A (West) 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 20 2025 19h 40m 40s -16° 13’ 47” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 21 2025 19h 40m 37s -16° 13’ 53” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 22 2025 19h 40m 34s -16° 13’ 59” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 23 2025 19h 40m 31s -16° 14’ 05” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 24 2025 19h 40m 28s -16° 14’ 10” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 25 2025 19h 40m 25s -16° 14’ 17” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 26 2025 19h 40m 22s -16° 14’ 23” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 27 2025 19h 40m 19s -16° 14’ 30” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 28 2025 19h 40m 16s -16° 14’ 36” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 29 2025 19h 40m 13s -16° 14’ 43” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jun 30 2025 19h 40m 10s -16° 14’ 49” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jul 01 2025 19h 40m 07s -16° 14’ 56” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jul 02 2025 19h 40m 04s -16° 15’ 03” 29.26 Sagittarius
Jul 03 2025 19h 40m 01s -16° 15’ 10” 29.26 Sagittarius

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