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public  New Chicago, United States New Chicago, United States  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Chicago
Sunrise: 5:17 
Transit: 12:47 
Sunset: 20:17
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Comets » 

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -75.90°   Az: 127.18°   Direction: South-East

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Norma, at a distance of 636,025,249.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 59m 43s and the Declination is -48° 53’ 58” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 18.85 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in Norma on June, 04 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in Norma on June, 04 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: 15h 57m 51s
Dec: -48° 49’ 41”
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

15h 59m 43s
-48° 53’ 58”
13h 08m 42s
05h 08m 25s

J2000

15h 57m 51s
-48° 49’ 41”

Additional Information

Norma
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.85

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 New Chicago, United States (all times relative to the local timezone America/Chicago):

Today Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is not visible from New Chicago, United States

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 636,025,249.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.2515661889 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35m 21.552s to travel from Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and arrive to us.

636,025,249.0
4.2515661889
35m 21.552s

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 28 16h 08m 55s -49° 45’ 52” 18.72 Norma
2025 May 29 16h 07m 41s -49° 39’ 36” 18.73 Norma
2025 May 30 16h 06m 28s -49° 33’ 11” 18.75 Norma
2025 May 31 16h 05m 15s -49° 26’ 40” 18.76 Norma
2025 Jun 01 16h 04m 04s -49° 20’ 00” 18.78 Norma
2025 Jun 02 16h 02m 53s -49° 13’ 13” 18.80 Norma
2025 Jun 03 16h 01m 43s -49° 06’ 20” 18.81 Norma
2025 Jun 04 16h 00m 34s -48° 59’ 19” 18.83 Norma
2025 Jun 05 15h 59m 26s -48° 52’ 12” 18.85 Norma
2025 Jun 06 15h 58m 19s -48° 44’ 58” 18.86 Norma
2025 Jun 07 15h 57m 13s -48° 37’ 39” 18.88 Norma
2025 Jun 08 15h 56m 08s -48° 30’ 14” 18.90 Norma
2025 Jun 09 15h 55m 03s -48° 22’ 43” 18.91 Norma
2025 Jun 10 15h 54m 00s -48° 15’ 07” 18.93 Norma

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