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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:02 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:51
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:22 | Tran: 14:51 | Set: 21:20
Alt: -5.10°   Az: 73.68°   Direction: East-North-East

Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is in the constellation of Orion, at a distance of 532,016,102.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 44m 51s and the Declination is +06° 00’ 40” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is 20.08 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in Orion on May, 20 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in Orion on May, 20 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: 05h 43m 29s
Dec: +06° 00’ 05”
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

05h 44m 51s
+06° 00’ 40”
16h 55m 55s
22h 40m 47s

J2000

05h 43m 29s
+06° 00’ 05”

Additional Information

Orion
20.08

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: 84.0°
Max altitude: 44.5°
Azimuth: 276.0°
  • 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

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Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) from Earth is currently 532,016,102.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.5563079843 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29m 34.615s to travel from Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) and arrive to us.

532,016,102.0
3.5563079843
29m 34.615s

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
2h1>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 May 13 05h 33m 32s +05° 39’ 21” 20.09 Orion
2025 May 14 05h 35m 04s +05° 42’ 33” 20.09 Orion
2025 May 15 05h 36m 37s +05° 45’ 40” 20.09 Orion
2025 May 16 05h 38m 10s +05° 48’ 42” 20.09 Orion
2025 May 17 05h 39m 43s +05° 51’ 39” 20.08 Orion
2025 May 18 05h 41m 17s +05° 54’ 30” 20.08 Orion
2025 May 19 05h 42m 50s +05° 57’ 15” 20.08 Orion
2025 May 20 05h 44m 24s +05° 59’ 56” 20.08 Orion
2025 May 21 05h 45m 58s +06° 02’ 30” 20.07 Orion
2025 May 22 05h 47m 33s +06° 04’ 59” 20.07 Orion
2025 May 23 05h 49m 07s +06° 07’ 22” 20.07 Orion
2025 May 24 05h 50m 42s +06° 09’ 40” 20.07 Orion
2025 May 25 05h 52m 17s +06° 11’ 52” 20.06 Orion
2025 May 26 05h 53m 52s +06° 13’ 59” 20.06 Orion

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