60P/Tsuchinshan (Comet)

Finder chart
Please wait
Loading 0/4
Click and drag to rotate
Mouse wheel to zoom in/out
Touch with mouse to dismiss
Click and drag the chart above to pan around the sky, or use the mouse wheel to zoom. Click to enlarge.

Show information for


From Ashburn , 60P/Tsuchinshan is visible between 20:15 and 05:51. It will become accessible at around 20:15, when it rises to an altitude of 21° above your eastern horizon. It will reach its highest point in the sky at 01:03, 63° above your southern horizon. It will become inaccessible at around 05:51 when it sinks below 21° above your western horizon.

Begin typing the name of a town near to you, and then select the town from the list of options which appear below.
Name 60P/Tsuchinshan
Object type Comet
Current position
Computed for:10 October 2024
Right ascension:01h10m [1]
Declination:+12°54' [1]
Constellation:Pisces
Magnitude:16.12 (V) [2]
Distance:1.92 AU
16.00 lightmin [1]
Angular motion (speed):16.96 arcmin/day[1]
Angular motion (pos ang):248.1°
Orbital elements [1]
Semi-major axis:3.53 AU
Eccentricity:0.533767
Inclination:3.58°
Longitude ascending node:267.43°
Argument of perihelion:216.93°
Epoch of elements:08 October 2024
Mean Anomaly at epoch:317.52°
Absolute mag (H):11.30 [2]
Slope parameter (n):2.92 [2]
Derived quantities
Perihelion:1.65 AU
Aphelion:5.41 AU
Orbital period:6.63 years
Visibility from Ashburn

All times shown in Ashburn local time.

Additional sources

The position of this comet was calculated from orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

We estimate the brightnesses of comets from magnitude parameters published by the BAA Comet Section, where these are available. These are computed from the observations they receive from amateur astronomers.

Comets are intrinsically highly unpredictable objects, since their brightness depends on the scattering of sunlight from dust particles in the comet's coma and tail. This dust is continually streaming away from the comet's nucleus, and its density at any particular time is governed by the rate of sublimation of the ice in the comet's nucleus, as it is heated by the Sun's rays. It also depends on the amount of dust that is mixed in with that ice. This is very difficult to predict in advance, and can be highly variable even between successive apparitions of the same comet.

In consequence, while the future positions of comets are usually known with a high degree of confidence, their future brightnesses are not. For most comets, we do not publish any magnitude estimates at all. For the few comets where we do make estimates, we generally prefer the BAA's magnitude parameters to those published by the Minor Planet Center, since they are typically updated more often.

Share

Ashburn

Latitude:
Longitude:
Timezone:

39.04°N
77.49°W
EDT

Color scheme