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public  Assas, France Assas, France  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Paris
Sunrise: 6:08 
Transit: 13:48 
Sunset: 21:28
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Comets » 

Comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:35 | Tran: 13:48 | Set: 19:01
Alt: -51.34°   Az: 41.48°   Direction: North-East

Comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) is in the constellation of Canis Majoris, at a distance of 11,628,804,721.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 47m 36s and the Declination is -11° 36’ 28” (apparent coordinates).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) in the constellation of Canis Majoris on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) in the constellation of Canis Majoris 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki)
RA: 06h 46m 25s
Dec: -11° 34’ 44”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 47m 36s
-11° 36’ 28”
13h 39m 57s
20h 27m 34s

J2000

06h 46m 25s
-11° 34’ 44”

Additional Information

Canis Majoris
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
-

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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) from Assas, France (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Paris):

Azimuth: 101.6°
Max altitude: 34.7°
Azimuth: 258.4°

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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) from Earth is currently 11,628,804,721.0 kilometers, equivalent to 77.7337582854 Astronomical Units. Light takes 10h 46m 29.517s to travel from comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) and arrive to us.

11,628,804,721.0
77.7337582854
10h 46m 29.517s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) to Earth happened on Tuesday 1 January 2013 at a distance of 66.107439 Astronomical Units, or 9,889,532,105 kilometers:

Tuesday 1 January 2013
9,889,532,105
66.107439

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) at epoch UTC (JD: 2439040.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99991500
Orbit inclination i 141.86420000°
Perihelion distance q 0.00778600 AU
1,164,769 km
Aphelion distance Q 183.19221400 AU
27,405,165,198 km
Semi-major axis a 91.60000000 AU
13,703,164,984 km
Orbital period period 880.0000 years
321,420.0000 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp October 21, 1965
2,439,054.6837 JD
Next perihelion transit October 27, 2845
2,760,474.6837 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 69.0486°
Longitude of the ascending node node 346.9947°
Mean anomaly M -0.015946°
Mean motion n 0.00112420°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 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 25 2025 06h 47m 15s -11° 36’ 18” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jun 26 2025 06h 47m 18s -11° 36’ 18” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jun 27 2025 06h 47m 21s -11° 36’ 19” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jun 28 2025 06h 47m 24s -11° 36’ 19” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jun 29 2025 06h 47m 27s -11° 36’ 21” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jun 30 2025 06h 47m 30s -11° 36’ 22” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 01 2025 06h 47m 33s -11° 36’ 25” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 02 2025 06h 47m 36s -11° 36’ 28” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 03 2025 06h 47m 40s -11° 36’ 31” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 04 2025 06h 47m 43s -11° 36’ 34” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 05 2025 06h 47m 46s -11° 36’ 38” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 06 2025 06h 47m 49s -11° 36’ 42” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 07 2025 06h 47m 52s -11° 36’ 47” N.A. Canis Majoris
Jul 08 2025 06h 47m 55s -11° 36’ 52” N.A. Canis Majoris

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