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public  Biola, United States Biola, United States  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Los_Angeles
Sunrise: 5:44 
Transit: 12:57 
Sunset: 20:10
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Comets » 

Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:16 | Tran: 17:34 | Set: 23:49
Alt: -12.47°   Az: 286.86°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Hydra, at a distance of 641,208,714.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 01m 37s and the Declination is +05° 35’ 20” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) is 25.50 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) in Hydra on May, 29 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) in Hydra on May, 29 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

P/2017 S5 (ATLAS)
RA: 09h 00m 17s
Dec: +05° 41’ 21”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 01m 37s
+05° 35’ 20”
07h 20m 30s
16h 22m 08s

J2000

09h 00m 17s
+05° 41’ 21”

Additional Information

Hydra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.50

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) from Biola, United States (all times relative to the local timezone America/Los_Angeles):

Azimuth: 84.4°
Max altitude: 58.8°
Azimuth: 275.6°

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 P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 641,208,714.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.2862155123 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35m 38.842s to travel from Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

641,208,714.0
4.2862155123
35m 38.842s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) 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 Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) 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 P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Fri Sep 15 2045 at a distance of 1.194405 Astronomical Units, or 178,680,418 kilometers:

Fri Sep 15 2045
178,680,418
1.194405

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 Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS), 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 Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) at epoch 22 November 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458080.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.31304498
Orbit inclination i 11.84937248°
Perihelion distance q 2.17822414 AU
325,857,693 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.16345496 AU
622,843,997 km
Semi-major axis a 3.17083955 AU
474,350,845 km
Orbital period period 5.6464 years
2,062.3379 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2017-Jul-28 00:34:23
2,457,962.5239 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Mar-21 08:40
2,460,024.8618 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 99.944336594401°
Longitude of the ascending node node 252.39100053319°
Mean anomaly M 20.593813851164°
Mean motion n 0.17455917°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS)
View Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet P/2017 S5 (ATLAS) 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 22 08h 56m 31s +05° 43’ 17” 25.43 Hydra
2025 May 23 08h 57m 11s +05° 42’ 26” 25.44 Hydra
2025 May 24 08h 57m 51s +05° 41’ 30” 25.45 Hydra
2025 May 25 08h 58m 33s +05° 40’ 29” 25.46 Hydra
2025 May 26 08h 59m 15s +05° 39’ 25” 25.47 Hydra
2025 May 27 08h 59m 57s +05° 38’ 16” 25.48 Hydra
2025 May 28 09h 00m 40s +05° 37’ 03” 25.49 Hydra
2025 May 29 09h 01m 23s +05° 35’ 46” 25.50 Hydra
2025 May 30 09h 02m 07s +05° 34’ 25” 25.51 Hydra
2025 May 31 09h 02m 51s +05° 32’ 59” 25.52 Hydra
2025 Jun 01 09h 03m 36s +05° 31’ 29” 25.53 Hydra
2025 Jun 02 09h 04m 21s +05° 29’ 55” 25.54 Hydra
2025 Jun 03 09h 05m 07s +05° 28’ 16” 25.55 Hydra
2025 Jun 04 09h 05m 53s +05° 26’ 34” 25.56 Hydra

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