Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1)
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) Position
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is currently in the constellation of Aquarius. The current Right Ascension is 21h 40m 32s and the Declination is +01° 57’ 26”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is right now (view fullscreen)
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
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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.
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) Distance
The distance of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) from Earth is currently 372,298,566 kilometers, equivalent to 2.488662 Astronomical Units. Light takes 20 minutes and 41.8543 seconds to travel from Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) and arrive to us.
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.
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 of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) to Earth happens on Fri May 27 2072 at a distance of 0.98987050 Astronomical Units, or 148,082,519 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) brightness
The current visual magnitude of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) is 18.75.
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.
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) at epoch 30 May 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.19372680 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 22.81118436° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.85881333 AU 278,074,517 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.75206378 AU 411,702,883 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.30543856 AU 344,888,700 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.5000 years 1,278.5825 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2020-Jan-02 16:43:44 2,458,851.1970 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2023-Jul-04 06:42 2,460,129.7795 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 83.212884367202° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 183.53884184393° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 42.038010287909° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.28156181°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 6478 Gault (1988 JC1) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 24 | 21h 23m 39s | +00° 38’ 38” | 18.74 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 21h 25m 49s | +00° 48’ 32” | 18.74 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 21h 27m 59s | +00° 58’ 27” | 18.74 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 21h 30m 07s | +01° 08’ 25” | 18.74 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 21h 32m 16s | +01° 18’ 23” | 18.74 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 21h 34m 23s | +01° 28’ 22” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 21h 36m 32s | +01° 38’ 22” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 21h 38m 39s | +01° 48’ 24” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 21h 40m 45s | +01° 58’ 26” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 21h 42m 51s | +02° 08’ 29” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 21h 44m 57s | +02° 18’ 32” | 18.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 21h 47m 02s | +02° 28’ 36” | 18.76 | Pegasus |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 21h 49m 06s | +02° 38’ 39” | 18.76 | Pegasus |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 21h 51m 11s | +02° 48’ 43” | 18.76 | Pegasus |