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Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -10.47°   Az: 198.69°   Direction: South-West

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Lupus, at a distance of 675,439,832.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 40m 34s and the Declination is -46° 14’ 21” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.20).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the constellation of Lupus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the constellation of Lupus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

12P/Pons-Brooks
RA: 15h 38m 47s
Dec: -46° 09’ 28”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 40m 34s
-46° 14’ 21”
01h 48m 26s
17h 29m 00s

J2000

15h 38m 47s
-46° 09’ 28”

Additional Information

Lupus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.20

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Greenwich, UKToday comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is not visible from

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 675,439,832.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.5150364029 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37m 33.025s to travel from comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and arrive to us.

675,439,832.0
4.5150364029
37m 33.025s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 12P/Pons-Brooks from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks to Earth will happen on Wednesday 31 August 2095 at a distance of 1.498788 Astronomical Units, or 224,215,507 kilometers:

Wednesday 31 August 2095
224,215,507
1.498788

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 September, 13 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 April 21, 2024
2,460,421.6316 JD
Next perihelion transit July 18, 2095
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

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 17 2025 15h 47m 11s -47° 19’ 59” 19.05 Lupus
Jun 18 2025 15h 46m 16s -47° 11’ 52” 19.07 Lupus
Jun 19 2025 15h 45m 23s -47° 03’ 43” 19.09 Lupus
Jun 20 2025 15h 44m 32s -46° 55’ 31” 19.10 Lupus
Jun 21 2025 15h 43m 42s -46° 47’ 17” 19.12 Lupus
Jun 22 2025 15h 42m 52s -46° 39’ 02” 19.14 Lupus
Jun 23 2025 15h 42m 05s -46° 30’ 44” 19.16 Lupus
Jun 24 2025 15h 41m 18s -46° 22’ 25” 19.18 Lupus
Jun 25 2025 15h 40m 33s -46° 14’ 06” 19.20 Lupus
Jun 26 2025 15h 39m 49s -46° 05’ 45” 19.21 Lupus
Jun 27 2025 15h 39m 06s -45° 57’ 24” 19.23 Lupus
Jun 28 2025 15h 38m 24s -45° 49’ 04” 19.25 Lupus
Jun 29 2025 15h 37m 44s -45° 40’ 43” 19.27 Lupus
Jun 30 2025 15h 37m 06s -45° 32’ 22” 19.29 Lupus

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