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67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Today6 Nov 202520.85.455 AU6.353 AU 16h20m-23°23'23.0°4.1°104°
Nearest approach16 Aug 202715.12.748 AU1.829 AU 19h43m-27°12'149.2°10.9°70°
Perihelion9 Apr 202811.81.211 AU2.088 AU 02h32m+15°54'21.4°17.6°70°
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko- 2025-11-06
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 9.4 + 5 log[∆] + 10.0 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 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6497440
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.2114260
    i (Inclination)                 : 3.86750
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 36.30650
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 22.22390
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 58.48470
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.46184
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2461870.77520
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 6.43

    Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 06
    Reference                       : MPEC 2024-C04

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.741

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   16 18 45.9   -23 20 03     6.345    5.458   24.5    4.3   104   20.8 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   16 19 33.0   -23 21 55     6.349    5.456   23.7    4.2   104   20.8 
2025-11-06 18:33 UT   16 20 09.5   -23 23 21     6.353    5.455   23.0    4.1   104   20.8 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   16 20 20.3   -23 23 47     6.354    5.454   22.8    4.0   104   20.8 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   16 21 07.8   -23 25 39     6.358    5.452   22.0    3.9   104   20.8 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   16 21 55.6   -23 27 31     6.362    5.451   21.2    3.8   104   20.8 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   16 22 43.6   -23 29 22     6.366    5.449   20.4    3.6   105   20.8 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   16 23 31.7   -23 31 14     6.370    5.447   19.6    3.5   105   20.8 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   16 24 20.1   -23 33 05     6.373    5.445   18.8    3.4   105   20.8 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   16 25 08.7   -23 34 56     6.377    5.444   18.0    3.2   105   20.8 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   16 25 57.4   -23 36 47     6.379    5.442   17.1    3.1   105   20.8 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   16 26 46.4   -23 38 37     6.382    5.440   16.3    2.9   106   20.8 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   16 27 35.5   -23 40 27     6.385    5.438   15.5    2.8   106   20.8 




    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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