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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:03 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 21:08
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Comets » 

Comet 246P/NEAT

Above the horizon.  Rise: 2:49 | Tran: 11:18 | Set: 19:48
Alt: 9.67°   Az: 300.19°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 246P/NEAT is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 918,411,119.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 57m 04s and the Declination is +26° 07’ 07” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 246P/NEAT, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 20.45.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 246P/NEAT in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 246P/NEAT in the constellation of Taurus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 246P/NEAT in the constellation of Taurus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 246P/NEAT against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

246P/NEAT
RA: 05h 55m 29s
Dec: +26° 06’ 59”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 246P/NEAT. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 57m 04s
+26° 07’ 07”
07h 13m 33s
13h 10m 37s

J2000

05h 55m 29s
+26° 06’ 59”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.45

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 246P/NEAT from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 63.9°
Max altitude: 64.6°
Azimuth: 296.1°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet 246P/NEAT from Earth is currently 918,411,119.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.1391991390 Astronomical Units. Light takes 51m 3.490s to travel from comet 246P/NEAT and arrive to us.

918,411,119.0
6.1391991390
51m 3.490s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 246P/NEAT from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 246P/NEAT from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 246P/NEAT from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 246P/NEAT to Earth happened on Thursday 1 July 2021 at a distance of 1.944327 Astronomical Units, or 290,867,158 kilometers:

Thursday 1 July 2021
290,867,158
1.944327

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 246P/NEAT, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 246P/NEAT as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 246P/NEAT at epoch May, 20 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456433.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.28504446
Orbit inclination i 15.97171595°
Perihelion distance q 2.87972047 AU
430,800,052 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.17594265 AU
774,310,001 km
Semi-major axis a 4.02783156 AU
602,555,026 km
Orbital period period 8.0838 years
2,952.6052 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp January 28, 2013
2,456,321.1343 JD
Next perihelion transit February 28, 2021
2,459,273.7395 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 176.17171844065°
Longitude of the ascending node node 78.780535978111°
Mean anomaly M 13.700320180649°
Mean motion n 0.12192622°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 246P/NEAT relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 246P/NEAT computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jul 09 2025 05h 50m 03s +25° 56’ 26” 20.47 Taurus
Jul 10 2025 05h 50m 58s +25° 57’ 51” 20.46 Taurus
Jul 11 2025 05h 51m 53s +25° 59’ 16” 20.46 Taurus
Jul 12 2025 05h 52m 48s +26° 00’ 40” 20.46 Taurus
Jul 13 2025 05h 53m 42s +26° 02’ 03” 20.46 Taurus
Jul 14 2025 05h 54m 37s +26° 03’ 26” 20.46 Taurus
Jul 15 2025 05h 55m 31s +26° 04’ 47” 20.45 Taurus
Jul 16 2025 05h 56m 25s +26° 06’ 08” 20.45 Taurus
Jul 17 2025 05h 57m 19s +26° 07’ 29” 20.45 Taurus
Jul 18 2025 05h 58m 13s +26° 08’ 48” 20.45 Taurus
Jul 19 2025 05h 59m 07s +26° 10’ 07” 20.44 Taurus
Jul 20 2025 06h 00m 00s +26° 11’ 25” 20.44 Taurus
Jul 21 2025 06h 00m 54s +26° 12’ 43” 20.44 Taurus
Jul 22 2025 06h 01m 47s +26° 14’ 00” 20.43 Taurus

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