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73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Today20 Oct 202524.15.077 AU4.808 AU07h13m+26°50'100.0°11.1°276°
Perihelion16 Dec 202710.50.876 AU1.858 AU17h38m-24°58'2.4°2.6°136°
Nearest approach18 Dec 202710.50.876 AU1.858 AU17h49m-25°10'2.8°3.2°130°
73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann- 2025-10-20
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 10.1 + 5 log[∆] + 15.0 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 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7119930
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.8756350
    i (Inclination)                 : 6.67410
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 56.17270
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 211.11810
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 87.11870
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -3.44348
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2461755.58560
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.30

    Epoch                           : 2025 Aug 27
    Reference                       : MPEC 2023-RF3

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.778

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   07 13 47.8   +26 49 55     4.826    5.078   99.0   11.2   277   24.1 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   07 13 52.3   +26 50 58     4.808    5.077  100.0   11.1   276   24.1 
2025-10-20 00:30 UT   07 13 52.3   +26 50 59     4.808    5.077  100.0   11.1   276   24.1 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   07 13 55.8   +26 52 03     4.791    5.075  101.0   11.1   276   24.0 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   07 13 58.5   +26 53 10     4.773    5.074  102.0   11.1   276   24.0 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   07 14 00.2   +26 54 18     4.756    5.072  103.0   11.0   276   24.0 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   07 14 01.0   +26 55 29     4.738    5.071  103.9   11.0   276   24.0 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   07 14 00.9   +26 56 41     4.721    5.069  104.9   10.9   276   24.0 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   07 13 59.8   +26 57 55     4.704    5.068  105.9   10.9   276   24.0 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   07 13 57.8   +26 59 11     4.687    5.066  106.9   10.8   276   24.0 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   07 13 54.8   +27 00 29     4.670    5.065  108.0   10.8   276   24.0 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   07 13 50.9   +27 01 49     4.653    5.064  109.0   10.7   276   24.0 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   07 13 46.0   +27 03 10     4.636    5.062  110.0   10.6   276   24.0 




    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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