Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Sky Charts and Coordinates
This is a simplified sky chart, showing where Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is now with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.
More advanced sky charts are available on TheSkyLive for this object: 1) the Online Planetarium which is interactive and allows to select dates and additional objects to visualize; and 2) the Live Position and Data Tracker which provides the highest precision position data and features deep sky imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey.
High Precision Live Sky Chart
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Rise and Set Times
Today's Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. All times are relative to the local timezone Europe/London.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Orbit Diagram
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | MagnitudeMag | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Apr 12 | 28.89 | 18h 06m 42s | +13° 37’ 59” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 13 | 28.88 | 18h 06m 38s | +13° 40’ 27” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 14 | 28.88 | 18h 06m 33s | +13° 42’ 53” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 15 | 28.88 | 18h 06m 28s | +13° 45’ 20” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 16 | 28.87 | 18h 06m 23s | +13° 47’ 44” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 17 | 28.87 | 18h 06m 16s | +13° 50’ 09” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 18 | 28.86 | 18h 06m 11s | +13° 52’ 33” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 19 | 28.86 | 18h 06m 05s | +13° 54’ 56” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 20 | 28.85 | 18h 05m 57s | +13° 57’ 19” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 21 | 28.85 | 18h 05m 52s | +13° 59’ 39” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 22 | 28.85 | 18h 05m 44s | +14° 02’ 00” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 23 | 28.84 | 18h 05m 36s | +14° 04’ 19” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 24 | 28.84 | 18h 05m 30s | +14° 06’ 38” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Apr 25 | 28.83 | 18h 05m 21s | +14° 08’ 56” | Ophiucus |
Distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth as a function of time. Distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with a 2 days interval.
The reported distances might be inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 12P/Pons-Brooks is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Light Curve of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, 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 12P/Pons-Brooks Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks at epoch 01 January 1970 00:00 UTC (JD: 2435000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.95481239 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 74.17689423° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.77366709 AU 115,738,949 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
33.46877940 AU 5,006,858,143 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
17.12122324 AU 2,561,298,546 km |
| Orbital period | period |
70.8500 years 25,876.2067 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 1954-May-22 21:08:25 2,434,885.3809 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2025-Mar-27 02:06 2,460,761.5876 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 199.0284685654° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 255.8911443583° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 1.601583044411° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.01391239°/day |
| Closest approach to Earth* | 2024-Jun-02 | |
| Distance of closest approach* | 1.54560177 AU 231,218,735 km |
|
* NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed for the time interval between 2013-Jan-01 and 2075-Dec-31, with a sampling interval of 1 day.