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Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -70.68°   Az: 98.34°   Direction: East

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Norma, at a distance of 621,126,789.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 16h 14m 27s and the Declination is -50° 11’ 48” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 18.65 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in Norma on May, 23 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in Norma on May, 23 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

12P/Pons-Brooks
RA: 16h 12m 33s
Dec: -50° 08’ 00”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

16h 14m 27s
-50° 11’ 48”
14h 02m 59s
06h 17m 26s

J2000

16h 12m 33s
-50° 08’ 00”

Additional Information

Norma
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.65

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is not visible from Greenwich, UK

  • 12P/Pons-Brooks is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 12P/Pons-Brooks is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth is currently 621,126,789.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.1519761350 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34m 31.856s to travel from Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and arrive to us.

621,126,789.0
4.1519761350
34m 31.856s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks to Earth happens on Wed Aug 31 2095 at a distance of 1.498788 Astronomical Units, or 224,215,507 kilometers:

Wed Aug 31 2095
224,215,507
1.498788

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks at epoch 13 September 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460201.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.95456023
Orbit inclination i 74.19083929°
Perihelion distance q 0.78086475 AU
116,815,704 km
Aphelion distance Q 33.58835604 AU
5,024,746,554 km
Semi-major axis a 17.18461040 AU
2,570,781,129 km
Orbital period period 71.2390 years
26,020.0402 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Apr-21 03:09:29
2,460,421.6316 JD
Next perihelion transit 2095-Jul-18 04:07
2,486,441.6717 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 198.98800614657°
Longitude of the ascending node node 255.85505059528°
Mean anomaly M 356.95437162814°
Mean motion n 0.01383549°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
View Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 May 16 16h 24m 19s -50° 49’ 24” 18.54 Norma
2025 May 17 16h 22m 59s -50° 44’ 59” 18.55 Norma
2025 May 18 16h 21m 41s -50° 40’ 24” 18.57 Norma
2025 May 19 16h 20m 23s -50° 35’ 39” 18.58 Norma
2025 May 20 16h 19m 05s -50° 30’ 44” 18.60 Norma
2025 May 21 16h 17m 48s -50° 25’ 40” 18.61 Norma
2025 May 22 16h 16m 29s -50° 20’ 27” 18.63 Norma
2025 May 23 16h 15m 12s -50° 15’ 03” 18.64 Norma
2025 May 24 16h 13m 56s -50° 09’ 31” 18.66 Norma
2025 May 25 16h 12m 40s -50° 03’ 49” 18.67 Norma
2025 May 26 16h 11m 24s -49° 57’ 59” 18.69 Norma
2025 May 27 16h 10m 09s -49° 51’ 59” 18.70 Norma
2025 May 28 16h 08m 55s -49° 45’ 52” 18.72 Norma
2025 May 29 16h 07m 41s -49° 39’ 36” 18.73 Norma

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