Comet 123P/West-Hartley
Comet 123P/West-Hartley Position
Comet 123P/West-Hartley is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension is 13h 13m 24s and the Declination is -05° 12’ 24”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 123P/West-Hartley is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 123P/West-Hartley is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 123P/West-Hartley?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 123P/West-Hartley in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 123P/West-Hartley Distance
The distance of Comet 123P/West-Hartley from Earth is currently 472,016,370 kilometers, equivalent to 3.155235 Astronomical Units. Light takes 26 minutes and 14.4771 seconds to travel from Comet 123P/West-Hartley and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 123P/West-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.
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 123P/West-Hartley from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 123P/West-Hartley to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 123P/West-Hartley to Earth happens on Thu Feb 28 2019 at a distance of 1.19957992 Astronomical Units, or 179,454,602 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 123P/West-Hartley brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 123P/West-Hartley is 18.18.
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 behvior 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 123P/West-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.
Comet 123P/West-Hartley rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 123P/West-Hartley rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 123P/West-Hartley touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 123P/West-Hartley Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 123P/West-Hartley at epoch 13 April 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457126.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.44930074 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.35366880° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.12596738 AU 318,040,194 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.59500685 AU 837,001,113 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.86048712 AU 577,520,653 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.5900 years 2,770.5219 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2011-Jul-05 13:30:26 2,455,748.0628 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Feb-04 02:01 2,458,518.5847 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 102.89469486852° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 46.538664250476° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 179.11332494197° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.12993942°/day |
Visualization of Comet 123P/West-Hartley Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 123P/West-Hartley with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 123P/West-Hartley 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!
View Comet 123P/West-Hartley in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 123P/West-Hartley 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 123P/West-Hartley computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 123P/West-Hartley in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Aug 16 | 13h 02m 14s | -03° 32’ 31” | 18.02 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 17 | 13h 03m 42s | -03° 45’ 47” | 18.04 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 18 | 13h 05m 09s | -03° 59’ 02” | 18.06 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 19 | 13h 06m 38s | -04° 12’ 11” | 18.09 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 20 | 13h 08m 05s | -04° 25’ 21” | 18.11 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 21 | 13h 09m 33s | -04° 38’ 26” | 18.13 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 22 | 13h 11m 02s | -04° 51’ 29” | 18.15 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 23 | 13h 12m 29s | -05° 04’ 28” | 18.17 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 24 | 13h 13m 59s | -05° 17’ 26” | 18.19 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 25 | 13h 15m 27s | -05° 30’ 21” | 18.21 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 26 | 13h 16m 55s | -05° 43’ 14” | 18.23 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 27 | 13h 18m 24s | -05° 56’ 03” | 18.26 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 28 | 13h 19m 54s | -06° 08’ 50” | 18.28 | Virgo |
| 2019 Aug 29 | 13h 21m 24s | -06° 21’ 34” | 18.30 | Virgo |