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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:27 
Transit: 12:14 
Sunset: 17:01
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 12:52 | Tran: 18:27 | Set: 0:05
Alt: -34.71°   Az: 44.63°   Direction: North-East

Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is in the constellation of Eridanus, at a distance of 376,463,801.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 43m 35s and the Declination is -04° 39’ 11” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is 19.66 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in Eridanus on February, 08 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in Eridanus on February, 08 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

6478 Gault
RA: 03h 42m 20s
Dec: -04° 43’ 54”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 43m 35s
-04° 39’ 11”
14h 21m 37s
18h 05m 13s

J2000

03h 42m 20s
-04° 43’ 54”

Additional Information

Eridanus
19.66

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 94.6°
Max altitude: 33.9°
Azimuth: 265.3°
  • 6478 Gault is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 6478 Gault 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 Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) from Earth is currently 376,463,801.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.5165050762 Astronomical Units. Light takes 20m 55.748s to travel from Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) and arrive to us.

376,463,801.0
2.5165050762
20m 55.748s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) 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 Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) 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 6478 Gault 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 Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) to Earth happens on Fri May 27 2072 at a distance of 0.989870 Astronomical Units, or 148,082,517 kilometers:

Fri May 27 2072
148,082,517
0.989870

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 Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1), 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 Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.19300949
Orbit inclination i 22.81260612°
Perihelion distance q 1.86081372 AU
278,373,771 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.75092259 AU
411,532,163 km
Semi-major axis a 2.30586816 AU
344,952,967 km
Orbital period period 3.5015 years
1,278.9399 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Jul-04 01:53:00
2,460,129.5785 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Jan-03 00:26
2,461,408.5184 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 83.150081837605°
Longitude of the ascending node node 183.52776004818°
Mean anomaly M 323.66658562093°
Mean motion n 0.28148313°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1)
View Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) 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 Feb 01 03h 39m 53s -05° 40’ 19” 19.57 Eridanus
2025 Feb 02 03h 40m 19s -05° 32’ 08” 19.59 Eridanus
2025 Feb 03 03h 40m 46s -05° 23’ 54” 19.60 Eridanus
2025 Feb 04 03h 41m 15s -05° 15’ 38” 19.61 Eridanus
2025 Feb 05 03h 41m 45s -05° 07’ 20” 19.63 Eridanus
2025 Feb 06 03h 42m 16s -04° 58’ 59” 19.64 Eridanus
2025 Feb 07 03h 42m 48s -04° 50’ 39” 19.65 Eridanus
2025 Feb 08 03h 43m 22s -04° 42’ 16” 19.66 Eridanus
2025 Feb 09 03h 43m 57s -04° 33’ 53” 19.67 Eridanus
2025 Feb 10 03h 44m 33s -04° 25’ 30” 19.69 Eridanus
2025 Feb 11 03h 45m 10s -04° 17’ 05” 19.70 Eridanus
2025 Feb 12 03h 45m 48s -04° 08’ 39” 19.71 Eridanus
2025 Feb 13 03h 46m 27s -04° 00’ 13” 19.72 Eridanus
2025 Feb 14 03h 47m 07s -03° 51’ 47” 19.73 Eridanus

Additional Resources