Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently in the constellation of Hercules. The current Right Ascension of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 18h 15m 45s and the Declination is +16° 47’ 57” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 25.66 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks [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]:
- 12P/Pons-Brooks is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 53° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 12P/Pons-Brooks is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth is currently 1,683,609,080 kilometers, equivalent to 11.254232 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 33 minutes and 35.9154 seconds to travel from Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks to Earth happens on Sun Aug 28 2095 at a distance of 1.525129 Astronomical Units, or 228,156,099 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 25.66.
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 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 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 12P/Pons-Brooks 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 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: 2439405.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.95422024 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 74.70374931° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.77801865 AU 116,389,934 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
33.21161646 AU 4,968,387,115 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
16.99481756 AU 2,542,388,525 km |
| Orbital period | period |
70.0600 years 25,590.1709 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 1954-May-23 04:13:20 2,434,885.6759 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2024-Jun-14 08:19 2,460,475.8469 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 199.09363409638° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 255.95951327526° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 63.58443906645° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.01406790°/day |
Visualization of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Orbit
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 15 Days 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 | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Jan 19 | 18h 13m 13s | +16° 31’ 40” | 25.70 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 20 | 18h 13m 33s | +16° 33’ 42” | 25.70 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 21 | 18h 13m 54s | +16° 35’ 48” | 25.69 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 22 | 18h 14m 16s | +16° 37’ 57” | 25.69 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 23 | 18h 14m 36s | +16° 40’ 09” | 25.68 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 24 | 18h 14m 57s | +16° 42’ 24” | 25.67 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 25 | 18h 15m 17s | +16° 44’ 44” | 25.67 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 26 | 18h 15m 38s | +16° 47’ 06” | 25.66 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 27 | 18h 15m 57s | +16° 49’ 31” | 25.66 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 28 | 18h 16m 18s | +16° 51’ 59” | 25.65 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 29 | 18h 16m 37s | +16° 54’ 30” | 25.64 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 30 | 18h 16m 58s | +16° 57’ 05” | 25.64 | Hercules |
| 2021 Jan 31 | 18h 17m 17s | +16° 59’ 43” | 25.63 | Hercules |
| 2021 Feb 01 | 18h 17m 36s | +17° 02’ 23” | 25.63 | Hercules |