Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is a Halley-type periodic comet that was first discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on July 12, 1812 and then independently rediscovered by William Robert Brooks in 1883. It has an orbital period of about 71.3 years. During its closest approach to the Sun, or perihelion, the comet comes within about 0.78 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun, while at its furthest point, or aphelion, it is located at a distance of about 17.2 AU. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is also known for being the probable parent body causing the κ-Draconids meteor shower. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will make its return in 2024 and it is expected to reach its maximum brightness (potentially visible to the naked eye) during the month of April. With its closest approach occurring just a few days before a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, it presents a unique opportunity for skywatchers to potentially view the comet during the eclipse. However, since the comet's brightness can be unpredictable, there is no guarantee it will be visible, and viewers may need to use binoculars or telescopes to see it. Nevertheless, with the combination of a total solar eclipse and a potentially bright comet passing by, this astronomical event is not to be missed.

Find it in the Sky

Chose a date & time and view the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the sky on our interactive planetarium.

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Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Below the horizon. Never rises today

Alt: -21.64° Az: 222.17° Direction: South-West

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Lupus, at a distance of 703,927,654.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 33m 39s and the Declination is -44° 42’ 37” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.40).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

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Star map showing the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the constellation of Lupus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.

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Star map showing the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the constellation of Lupus 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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.

12P/Pons-Brooks
RA: 15h 31m 53s
Dec: -44° 37’ 30”

Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 15h 33m 39s

Declination -44° 42’ 37”

Hour Angle 04h 05m 39s

Sidereal Time 19h 39m 19s

J2000

Right Ascension 15h 31m 53s

Declination -44° 37’ 30”

Additional Information

Constellation Lupus

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 19.40

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 12P/Pons-Brooks from Moorhusen, Germany (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Berlin):

Moorhusen, GermanyToday comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is not visible from

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 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth is currently 703,927,654.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.7054657309 Astronomical Units. Light takes 39m 8.050s to travel from comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and arrive to us.

Distance Km 703,927,654.0

Distance AU 4.7054657309

Light Travel Time 39m 8.050s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks to Earth will happen on Wednesday 31 August 2095 at a distance of 1.498788 Astronomical Units, or 224,215,507 kilometers:

Date Wednesday 31 August 2095

Distance Kilometers 224,215,507

Distance AU 1.498788

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 12P/Pons-Brooks, 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 12P/Pons-Brooks as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks at epoch September, 13 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460201.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	0.95456023
Orbit inclination	i	74.19083929°
Perihelion distance	q	0.78086475 AU 116,815,704 km
Aphelion distance	Q	33.58835604 AU 5,024,746,554 km
Semi-major axis	a	17.18461040 AU 2,570,781,129 km
Orbital period	period	71.2390 years 26,020.0402 days
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	April 21, 2024 2,460,421.6316 JD
Next perihelion transit		July 18, 2095 2,486,441.6717 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	198.98800614657°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	255.85505059528°
Mean anomaly	M	356.95437162814°
Mean motion	n	0.01383549°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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
Jun 29 2025	15h 37m 44s	-45° 40’ 43”	19.27	Lupus
Jun 30 2025	15h 37m 06s	-45° 32’ 22”	19.29	Lupus
Jul 01 2025	15h 36m 28s	-45° 24’ 02”	19.31	Lupus
Jul 02 2025	15h 35m 52s	-45° 15’ 43”	19.33	Lupus
Jul 03 2025	15h 35m 16s	-45° 07’ 24”	19.34	Lupus
Jul 04 2025	15h 34m 42s	-44° 59’ 07”	19.36	Lupus
Jul 05 2025	15h 34m 10s	-44° 50’ 52”	19.38	Lupus
Jul 06 2025	15h 33m 39s	-44° 42’ 38”	19.40	Lupus
Jul 07 2025	15h 33m 09s	-44° 34’ 26”	19.42	Lupus
Jul 08 2025	15h 32m 39s	-44° 26’ 16”	19.44	Lupus
Jul 09 2025	15h 32m 11s	-44° 18’ 08”	19.46	Lupus
Jul 10 2025	15h 31m 45s	-44° 10’ 03”	19.48	Lupus
Jul 11 2025	15h 31m 20s	-44° 01’ 59”	19.50	Lupus
Jul 12 2025	15h 30m 56s	-43° 53’ 59”	19.52	Lupus

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks for any date and time between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.