66P/duToit |
ephemeris |
date |
magn |
radius |
delta |
ra |
dec |
elong |
phase |
PA |
Perihelion | 11 May 2018 | 11.3 | 1.306 AU | 1.022 AU | 22h53m | -32°37' | 79.9° | 49.6° | 241° |
Nearest approach | 15 Aug 2018 | 15.0 | 1.793 AU | 1.012 AU | 01h26m | -11°25' | 124.7° | 27.7° | 261° |
Today | 13 Oct 2025 | 41.2 | 10.835 AU | 10.686 AU | 07h09m | +41°01' | 95.9° | 5.3° | 275° |
66P/duToit- 2025-10-13
astro.vanbuitenen.nl
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 8.1 + 5 log[∆] + 27.0 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 66P/duToit are:
e (Eccentricity) : 0.7849250
q (Perihelion distance) : 1.3056090
i (Inclination) : 18.64590
Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 21.84780
ω (Argument of perihelion) : 257.36160
L (Longitude of perihelion) : 98.53361
B (Latitude of perihelion) : -18.17810
T (Time of perihelion passage) : 2458250.12550
P (Orbital period in years) : 14.96
Epoch : 2025 Oct 12
Reference : MPEC 2021-F20
Classification(s): : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
Tisserand (Jupiter) : 2.125
Ephemerides
Date Time RA (2000) DEC (2000) delta radius elong phase PA magn
2025-10-13 00:00 UT 07 09 47.8 +41 00 49 10.694 10.835 95.5 5.3 275 41.2
2025-10-13 11:54 UT 07 09 48.7 +41 01 41 10.686 10.835 95.9 5.3 275 41.2
2025-10-14 00:00 UT 07 09 49.4 +41 02 34 10.678 10.835 96.4 5.2 275 41.2
2025-10-15 00:00 UT 07 09 50.5 +41 04 20 10.662 10.835 97.3 5.2 275 41.2
2025-10-16 00:00 UT 07 09 51.1 +41 06 06 10.647 10.835 98.3 5.2 274 41.2
2025-10-17 00:00 UT 07 09 51.2 +41 07 54 10.631 10.835 99.2 5.2 274 41.2
2025-10-18 00:00 UT 07 09 50.8 +41 09 42 10.615 10.835 100.2 5.2 274 41.2
2025-10-19 00:00 UT 07 09 49.9 +41 11 31 10.599 10.835 101.1 5.2 273 41.2
2025-10-20 00:00 UT 07 09 48.5 +41 13 20 10.583 10.835 102.1 5.2 273 41.2
2025-10-21 00:00 UT 07 09 46.6 +41 15 10 10.568 10.835 103.0 5.1 273 41.2
2025-10-22 00:00 UT 07 09 44.2 +41 17 01 10.552 10.835 103.9 5.1 272 41.2
2025-10-23 00:00 UT 07 09 41.2 +41 18 52 10.537 10.835 104.9 5.1 272 41.2
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.