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C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Perihelion20 Jun 202114.53.608 AU3.069 AU 23h22m-83°19'114.3°14.9°276°
Nearest approach21 Jun 202114.53.608 AU3.069 AU 23h25m-83°26'114.3°14.9°276°
Today22 Oct 202520.412.345 AU11.382 AU 02h36m+20°42'164.7°1.2°233°
C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)- 2025-10-22
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)


Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 8.9 + 5 log[∆] + 5.8 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)



Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.





The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.




Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0000580
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 3.6078370
    i (Inclination)                 : 54.26450
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 38.66530
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 251.28660
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 98.55184
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -50.24718
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2459386.41530

    Epoch                           : 2025 Oct 21
    Reference                       : MPEC 2024-GJ3

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU)

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   02 36 57.1   +20 42 35    11.380   12.337  163.4    1.3   235   20.4 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   02 36 37.7   +20 42 11    11.381   12.343  164.4    1.2   233   20.4 
2025-10-22 08:23 UT   02 36 30.9   +20 42 02    11.382   12.345  164.7    1.2   233   20.4 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   02 36 18.2   +20 41 45    11.383   12.349  165.4    1.2   232   20.4 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   02 35 58.7   +20 41 19    11.385   12.355  166.4    1.1   230   20.4 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   02 35 39.2   +20 40 52    11.388   12.361  167.3    1.0   228   20.4 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   02 35 19.5   +20 40 24    11.391   12.367  168.3    0.9   226   20.4 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   02 34 59.9   +20 39 55    11.394   12.372  169.3    0.9   223   20.4 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   02 34 40.2   +20 39 26    11.398   12.378  170.2    0.8   220   20.4 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   02 34 20.5   +20 38 55    11.401   12.384  171.0    0.7   216   20.4 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   02 34 00.7   +20 38 24    11.405   12.390  171.9    0.6   212   20.4 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   02 33 41.0   +20 37 52    11.410   12.396  172.7    0.6   206   20.4 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   02 33 21.2   +20 37 19    11.415   12.401  173.3    0.5   199   20.4 




    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.

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