Latest Comet 123P/West-Hartley
Comet 123P/West-Hartley is currently in the constellation of Microscopium. The current Right Ascension of Comet 123P/West-Hartley is 20h 57m 02s and the Declination is -33° 29’ 46” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 123P/West-Hartley is 23.96 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 123P/West-Hartley [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 123P/West-Hartley is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South direction at an altitude of 5° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 123P/West-Hartley is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 123P/West-Hartley rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 123P/West-Hartley available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 123P/West-Hartley Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 123P/West-Hartley finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 123P/West-Hartley is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
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 from Earth
The distance of Comet 123P/West-Hartley from Earth is currently 680,314,093 kilometers, equivalent to 4.547619 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37 minutes and 49.2835 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 1.199581 Astronomical Units, or 179,454,775 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 23.96.
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 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, 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 123P/West-Hartley Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 123P/West-Hartley at epoch 18 September 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457284.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.44927022 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.35454558° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.12610687 AU 318,061,062 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.59494602 AU 836,992,012 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.86052645 AU 577,526,537 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.5900 years 2,770.5642 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2019-Feb-04 08:09:24 2,458,518.8399 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2026-Sep-05 21:41 2,461,289.4041 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 102.91844683507° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 46.527373044969° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 199.61304892378° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.12993743°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 May 08 | 20h 55m 45s | -33° 08’ 26” | 23.98 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 09 | 20h 55m 59s | -33° 11’ 12” | 23.97 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 10 | 20h 56m 12s | -33° 13’ 59” | 23.97 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 11 | 20h 56m 22s | -33° 16’ 51” | 23.97 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 12 | 20h 56m 34s | -33° 19’ 49” | 23.97 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 13 | 20h 56m 44s | -33° 22’ 48” | 23.97 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 14 | 20h 56m 53s | -33° 25’ 51” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 15 | 20h 57m 01s | -33° 28’ 59” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 16 | 20h 57m 07s | -33° 32’ 09” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 17 | 20h 57m 14s | -33° 35’ 24” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 18 | 20h 57m 19s | -33° 38’ 42” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 19 | 20h 57m 23s | -33° 42’ 02” | 23.96 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 20 | 20h 57m 26s | -33° 45’ 27” | 23.95 | Microscopium |
| 2021 May 21 | 20h 57m 29s | -33° 48’ 55” | 23.95 | Microscopium |