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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:02 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:51
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Comet 103P/Hartley

Below the horizon.  Rise: 16:00 | Tran: 21:16 | Set: 2:35
Alt: -13.05°   Az: 87.15°   Direction: East

Comet 103P/Hartley is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 615,011,421.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 11m 15s and the Declination is -08° 25’ 11” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 103P/Hartley is 22.03 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 103P/Hartley in Virgo on May, 20 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 103P/Hartley in Virgo on May, 20 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 103P/Hartley is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

103P/Hartley
RA: 12h 09m 57s
Dec: -08° 16’ 43”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 103P/Hartley. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 103P/Hartley?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 103P/Hartley in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 11m 15s
-08° 25’ 11”
17h 18m 24s
05h 29m 40s

J2000

12h 09m 57s
-08° 16’ 43”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.03

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 103P/Hartley from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 98.4°
Max altitude: 30.1°
Azimuth: 261.6°
  • 103P/Hartley is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 103P/Hartley is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 103P/Hartley from Earth is currently 615,011,421.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.1110974249 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34m 11.457s to travel from Comet 103P/Hartley and arrive to us.

615,011,421.0
4.1110974249
34m 11.457s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 103P/Hartley 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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 103P/Hartley from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 103P/Hartley from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 103P/Hartley to Earth happens on Thu Oct 21 2010 at a distance of 0.120883 Astronomical Units, or 18,083,776 kilometers:

Thu Oct 21 2010
18,083,776
0.120883

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 103P/Hartley, 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 103P/Hartley as a function of time

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 103P/Hartley 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
2025 May 13 12h 13m 06s -08° 54’ 51” 21.95 Virgo
2025 May 14 12h 12m 49s -08° 50’ 39” 21.96 Virgo
2025 May 15 12h 12m 32s -08° 46’ 31” 21.97 Virgo
2025 May 16 12h 12m 16s -08° 42’ 29” 21.98 Virgo
2025 May 17 12h 12m 02s -08° 38’ 32” 21.99 Virgo
2025 May 18 12h 11m 47s -08° 34’ 41” 22.00 Virgo
2025 May 19 12h 11m 34s -08° 30’ 54” 22.01 Virgo
2025 May 20 12h 11m 22s -08° 27’ 13” 22.02 Virgo
2025 May 21 12h 11m 10s -08° 23’ 38” 22.03 Virgo
2025 May 22 12h 10m 59s -08° 20’ 08” 22.04 Virgo
2025 May 23 12h 10m 49s -08° 16’ 43” 22.05 Virgo
2025 May 24 12h 10m 40s -08° 13’ 24” 22.06 Virgo
2025 May 25 12h 10m 32s -08° 10’ 10” 22.07 Virgo
2025 May 26 12h 10m 25s -08° 07’ 02” 22.08 Virgo

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive