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Sunrise: 4:47 
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Comets » 

Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu

Above the horizon.  Rise: 3:09 | Tran: 11:23 | Set: 19:37
Alt: 42.00°   Az: 104.60°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 868,485,865.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 54m 04s and the Declination is +24° 00’ 29” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.74).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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.

117P/Helin-Roman-Alu
RA: 04h 52m 31s
Dec: +23° 58’ 02”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 54m 04s
+24° 00’ 29”
20h 32m 17s
01h 26m 21s

J2000

04h 52m 31s
+23° 58’ 02”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.74

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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 66.0°
Max altitude: 62.5°
Azimuth: 294.0°

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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu from Earth is currently 868,485,865.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.8054694291 Astronomical Units. Light takes 48m 16.957s to travel from comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu and arrive to us.

868,485,865.0
5.8054694291
48m 16.957s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu to Earth happened on Sunday 3 July 2022 at a distance of 2.030864 Astronomical Units, or 303,812,912 kilometers:

Sunday 3 July 2022
303,812,912
2.030864

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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu, 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu at epoch June, 11 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458281.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.25505040
Orbit inclination i 8.70178786°
Perihelion distance q 3.04777985 AU
455,941,377 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.13473304 AU
768,145,131 km
Semi-major axis a 4.09125644 AU
612,043,254 km
Orbital period period 8.2755 years
3,022.6195 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp July 6, 2022
2,459,767.0441 JD
Next perihelion transit October 15, 2030
2,462,789.6636 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 222.50173054801°
Longitude of the ascending node node 58.876826327174°
Mean anomaly M 183.06873505028°
Mean motion n 0.11910199°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 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 22 2025 04h 47m 04s +23° 43’ 58” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 23 2025 04h 48m 02s +23° 46’ 18” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 24 2025 04h 49m 00s +23° 48’ 37” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 25 2025 04h 49m 57s +23° 50’ 55” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 26 2025 04h 50m 55s +23° 53’ 11” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 27 2025 04h 51m 53s +23° 55’ 26” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 28 2025 04h 52m 50s +23° 57’ 39” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 29 2025 04h 53m 47s +23° 59’ 51” 19.74 Taurus
Jun 30 2025 04h 54m 45s +24° 02’ 02” 19.74 Taurus
Jul 01 2025 04h 55m 42s +24° 04’ 12” 19.74 Taurus
Jul 02 2025 04h 56m 39s +24° 06’ 20” 19.73 Taurus
Jul 03 2025 04h 57m 36s +24° 08’ 27” 19.73 Taurus
Jul 04 2025 04h 58m 32s +24° 10’ 33” 19.73 Taurus
Jul 05 2025 04h 59m 28s +24° 12’ 37” 19.73 Taurus

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