Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS)
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) Position
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) Distance
The distance of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 1,074,498,569 kilometers, equivalent to 7.182579 Astronomical Units. Light takes 59 minutes and 44.1414 seconds to travel from Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Mon Jul 3 2017 at a distance of 2.31073894 Astronomical Units, or 345,681,627 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) brightness
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) rise and set times
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) Orbital Elements
|Perihelion distance||q||2.64808727 AU
|Date of perihelion transit||Tp||2018-Jan-08 01:02:05
|Next perihelion transit||2167-Mar-27 13:23
|Argument of perihelion||peri||15.112233808788°|
|Longitude of the ascending node||node||298.89715120088°|
Visualization of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet C/2017 K4 (ATLAS) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
|2020 Feb 14||03h 16m 54s||+32° 40’ 18”||24.70||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 15||03h 17m 11s||+32° 38’ 44”||24.71||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 16||03h 17m 27s||+32° 37’ 14”||24.72||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 17||03h 17m 45s||+32° 35’ 48”||24.74||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 18||03h 18m 03s||+32° 34’ 23”||24.75||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 19||03h 18m 21s||+32° 33’ 02”||24.76||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 20||03h 18m 41s||+32° 31’ 44”||24.78||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 21||03h 19m 00s||+32° 30’ 28”||24.79||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 22||03h 19m 20s||+32° 29’ 13”||24.80||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 23||03h 19m 41s||+32° 28’ 04”||24.82||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 24||03h 20m 02s||+32° 26’ 56”||24.83||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 25||03h 20m 23s||+32° 25’ 50”||24.85||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 26||03h 20m 45s||+32° 24’ 48”||24.86||Perseus|
|2020 Feb 27||03h 21m 09s||+32° 23’ 48”||24.87||Perseus|