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Comets » 

Comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 20:25 | Tran: 7:33 | Set: 18:41
Alt: 60.53°   Az: 103.40°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) is in the constellation of Andromeda, at a distance of 209,044,152.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 55m 03s and the Declination is +37° 35’ 58” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 23.72.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) in the constellation of Andromeda on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) in the constellation of Andromeda 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 P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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.

P/2016 J3 (STEREO)
RA: 01h 53m 32s
Dec: +37° 28’ 29”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 55m 03s
+37° 35’ 58”
21h 31m 22s
23h 26m 26s

J2000

01h 53m 32s
+37° 28’ 29”

Additional Information

Andromeda
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.72

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 P/2016 J3 (STEREO) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 52.1°
Max altitude: 76.2°
Azimuth: 307.8°

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/2016 J3 (STEREO) from Earth is currently 209,044,152.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.3973738464 Astronomical Units. Light takes 11m 37.296s to travel from comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) and arrive to us.

209,044,152.0
1.3973738464
11m 37.296s

The following graph shows the distance of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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 P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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 P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) to Earth will happen on Thursday 17 November 2072 at a distance of 0.350462 Astronomical Units, or 52,428,374 kilometers:

Thursday 17 November 2072
52,428,374
0.350462

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) at epoch January, 14 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459229.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.81169171
Orbit inclination i 23.38407787°
Perihelion distance q 0.52636423 AU
78,742,969 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.06408784 AU
757,576,760 km
Semi-major axis a 2.79522604 AU
418,159,864 km
Orbital period period 4.6734 years
1,706.9619 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp January 25, 2021
2,459,239.8862 JD
Next perihelion transit September 28, 2025
2,460,946.8481 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 210.73647174322°
Longitude of the ascending node node 257.78860103944°
Mean anomaly M 357.80953551241°
Mean motion n 0.21090102°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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 P/2016 J3 (STEREO) 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
Jul 05 2025 01h 27m 39s +34° 43’ 38” 24.73 Andromeda
Jul 06 2025 01h 31m 11s +35° 07’ 37” 24.60 Andromeda
Jul 07 2025 01h 34m 49s +35° 31’ 39” 24.46 Triangulum
Jul 08 2025 01h 38m 31s +35° 55’ 42” 24.32 Andromeda
Jul 09 2025 01h 42m 20s +36° 19’ 48” 24.18 Andromeda
Jul 10 2025 01h 46m 14s +36° 43’ 52” 24.04 Andromeda
Jul 11 2025 01h 50m 14s +37° 07’ 55” 23.90 Andromeda
Jul 12 2025 01h 54m 21s +37° 31’ 54” 23.75 Andromeda
Jul 13 2025 01h 58m 34s +37° 55’ 48” 23.60 Andromeda
Jul 14 2025 02h 02m 54s +38° 19’ 36” 23.46 Andromeda
Jul 15 2025 02h 07m 21s +38° 43’ 15” 23.31 Andromeda
Jul 16 2025 02h 11m 54s +39° 06’ 44” 23.15 Andromeda
Jul 17 2025 02h 16m 36s +39° 29’ 59” 23.00 Andromeda
Jul 18 2025 02h 21m 26s +39° 52’ 59” 22.85 Andromeda

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