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
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 behvior 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.
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 Europe/London timezone.
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 | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Feb 16 | 18h 08m 26s | +13° 04’ 50” | 28.19 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 17 | 18h 08m 35s | +13° 07’ 06” | 28.19 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 18 | 18h 08m 45s | +13° 09’ 25” | 28.18 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 19 | 18h 08m 56s | +13° 11’ 47” | 28.18 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 20 | 18h 09m 06s | +13° 14’ 08” | 28.18 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 21 | 18h 09m 15s | +13° 16’ 32” | 28.17 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 22 | 18h 09m 24s | +13° 18’ 57” | 28.17 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 23 | 18h 09m 33s | +13° 21’ 24” | 28.16 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 24 | 18h 09m 42s | +13° 23’ 53” | 28.16 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 25 | 18h 09m 51s | +13° 26’ 22” | 28.15 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 26 | 18h 10m 00s | +13° 28’ 54” | 28.15 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 27 | 18h 10m 08s | +13° 31’ 27” | 28.14 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Feb 28 | 18h 10m 15s | +13° 34’ 00” | 28.14 | Ophiucus |
| 2019 Mar 01 | 18h 10m 23s | +13° 36’ 37” | 28.13 | 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* | 2095-Aug-28 | |
| Distance of closest approach* | 1.52501427 AU 228,138,889 km |
* NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed for the time interval between 2013-Jan-01 and 2100-Dec-31, with a sampling interval of 1 day.