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Comets » 

Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:09 | Tran: 13:43 | Set: 19:18
Alt: -21.37°   Az: 69.69°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 563,422,578.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 18m 15s and the Declination is -04° 48’ 28” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro is 21.33 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro in Aquarius on February, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro in Aquarius on February, 13 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

133P/Elst-Pizarro
RA: 23h 16m 57s
Dec: -04° 56’ 43”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 18m 15s
-04° 48’ 28”
16h 04m 52s
15h 23m 08s

J2000

23h 16m 57s
-04° 56’ 43”

Additional Information

Aquarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.33

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 133P/Elst-Pizarro from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 94.8°
Max altitude: 33.8°
Azimuth: 265.3°
  • 133P/Elst-Pizarro is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 133P/Elst-Pizarro 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 133P/Elst-Pizarro from Earth is currently 563,422,578.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.7662473093 Astronomical Units. Light takes 31m 19.375s to travel from Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro and arrive to us.

563,422,578.0
3.7662473093
31m 19.375s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro 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 133P/Elst-Pizarro 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 133P/Elst-Pizarro 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 133P/Elst-Pizarro to Earth happens on Fri Jul 19 2086 at a distance of 1.607973 Astronomical Units, or 240,549,334 kilometers:

Fri Jul 19 2086
240,549,334
1.607973

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 133P/Elst-Pizarro, 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 133P/Elst-Pizarro as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.15637284
Orbit inclination i 1.38981783°
Perihelion distance q 2.67049635 AU
399,500,568 km
Aphelion distance Q 3.66049080 AU
547,601,631 km
Semi-major axis a 3.16549358 AU
473,551,100 km
Orbital period period 5.6321 years
2,057.1245 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-May-10 04:48:04
2,460,440.7000 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-Dec-27 07:47
2,462,497.8246 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 131.90192411846°
Longitude of the ascending node node 160.09954075742°
Mean anomaly M 282.96430494687°
Mean motion n 0.17500156°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro
View Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro 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 Feb 06 23h 07m 29s -05° 54’ 54” 21.35 Aquarius
2025 Feb 07 23h 08m 58s -05° 45’ 48” 21.35 Aquarius
2025 Feb 08 23h 10m 28s -05° 36’ 40” 21.35 Aquarius
2025 Feb 09 23h 11m 57s -05° 27’ 31” 21.35 Aquarius
2025 Feb 10 23h 13m 25s -05° 18’ 20” 21.34 Aquarius
2025 Feb 11 23h 14m 55s -05° 09’ 09” 21.34 Aquarius
2025 Feb 12 23h 16m 24s -04° 59’ 56” 21.34 Aquarius
2025 Feb 13 23h 17m 53s -04° 50’ 43” 21.33 Aquarius
2025 Feb 14 23h 19m 23s -04° 41’ 27” 21.33 Aquarius
2025 Feb 15 23h 20m 52s -04° 32’ 11” 21.33 Aquarius
2025 Feb 16 23h 22m 21s -04° 22’ 54” 21.32 Aquarius
2025 Feb 17 23h 23m 51s -04° 13’ 36” 21.32 Aquarius
2025 Feb 18 23h 25m 20s -04° 04’ 17” 21.32 Aquarius
2025 Feb 19 23h 26m 50s -03° 54’ 57” 21.31 Aquarius

Additional Resources