41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Today	16 Jul 2026	30.7	4.475 AU	4.941 AU	03h44m	+11°17'	57.4°	11.0°	252°
Nearest approach	27 Jan 2028	11.2	1.081 AU	0.945 AU	15h53m	-13°17'	68.1°	57.7°	285°
Perihelion	15 Feb 2028	11.0	1.050 AU	0.976 AU	17h26m	-14°25'	64.6°	58.2°	278°

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 10.5 + 5 log[∆] + 25.8 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 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6599890
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.0497400
    i (Inclination)                 : 9.21660
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 140.97730
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 62.20480
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 202.87386
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 8.14548
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2461817.18000
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.42

    Epoch                           : 2026 Jul 15
    Reference                       : MPC191596

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.828

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   03 43 45.9   +11 16 11     4.963    4.480   56.3   10.9   251   30.7 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   03 44 28.3   +11 17 13     4.947    4.477   57.1   11.0   252   30.7 
2026-07-16 08:51 UT   03 44 43.9   +11 17 35     4.941    4.475   57.4   11.0   252   30.7 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   03 45 10.4   +11 18 12     4.931    4.473   57.8   11.1   252   30.7 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   03 45 52.1   +11 19 08     4.914    4.470   58.6   11.2   252   30.7 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   03 46 33.5   +11 20 00     4.898    4.467   59.4   11.3   252   30.7 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   03 47 14.4   +11 20 50     4.881    4.463   60.2   11.4   252   30.7 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   03 47 54.9   +11 21 36     4.864    4.460   60.9   11.5   253   30.6 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   03 48 35.1   +11 22 20     4.847    4.457   61.7   11.6   253   30.6 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   03 49 14.8   +11 22 60     4.830    4.454   62.5   11.7   253   30.6 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   03 49 54.2   +11 23 37     4.813    4.450   63.3   11.8   253   30.6 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   03 50 33.1   +11 24 10     4.796    4.447   64.1   11.9   253   30.6 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   03 51 11.5   +11 24 41     4.779    4.444   64.9   11.9   254   30.6 

    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.