3I/ATLAS
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Perihelion	29 Oct 2025	9.5	1.356 AU	2.307 AU	13h29m	-06°57'	12.8°	9.4°	302°
Today	7 Dec 2025	11.8	1.967 AU	1.848 AU	11h36m	+02°41'	81.8°	29.7°	293°
Nearest approach	19 Dec 2025	12.8	2.288 AU	1.798 AU	10h46m	+07°06'	107.0°	24.3°	292°

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 5.5 + 5 log[∆] + 16.8 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 3I/ATLAS are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 6.1394270
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.3564530
    i (Inclination)                 : 175.11290
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 322.15480
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 128.00770
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 14.04581
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.84891
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460977.98300

    Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21
    Reference                       : MPEC 2025-X35

    Classification(s):              : Interstellar

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-12-06 00:00 UT   11 43 10.5   +02 06 56     1.862    1.925   78.5   30.1   293   11.6 
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   11 39 15.0   +02 27 52     1.853    1.950   80.5   29.9   293   11.7 
2025-12-07 15:28 UT   11 36 41.1   +02 41 33     1.848    1.967   81.8   29.7   293   11.8 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   11 35 15.4   +02 49 09     1.845    1.977   82.6   29.6   293   11.8 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   11 31 11.9   +03 10 45     1.838    2.003   84.7   29.3   293   11.9 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   11 27 04.3   +03 32 40     1.831    2.030   86.8   29.0   293   12.0 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   11 22 52.9   +03 54 52     1.824    2.056   88.9   28.6   293   12.1 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   11 18 37.6   +04 17 20     1.818    2.084   91.0   28.2   293   12.2 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   11 14 18.6   +04 40 04     1.813    2.111   93.2   27.8   293   12.2 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   11 09 56.1   +05 03 00     1.809    2.139   95.4   27.3   293   12.3 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   11 05 30.1   +05 26 09     1.805    2.167   97.5   26.8   293   12.4 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   11 01 00.8   +05 49 28     1.802    2.195   99.7   26.2   293   12.5 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   10 56 28.3   +06 12 55     1.800    2.223  101.9   25.7   293   12.6 

    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.