Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is currently in the constellation of Vela. The current Right Ascension of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is 08h 39m 01s and the Declination is -50° 32’ 51” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is 29.62 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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.

Additional information about Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS from Earth is currently 1,741,562,853 kilometers, equivalent to 11.641629 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 36 minutes and 49.2284 seconds to travel from Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS 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.

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 161P/Hartley-IRAS from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS to Earth happens on Fri Oct 2 2026 at a distance of 0.505486 Astronomical Units, or 75,619,555 kilometers:

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

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is 29.62.

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 behavior 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS, 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 161P/Hartley-IRAS rise and set times

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS 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!

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 29	08h 39m 12s	-51° 05’ 03”	29.63	Vela
2021 Apr 30	08h 39m 10s	-51° 00’ 41”	29.63	Vela
2021 May 01	08h 39m 06s	-50° 56’ 18”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 02	08h 39m 05s	-50° 51’ 57”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 03	08h 39m 02s	-50° 47’ 38”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 04	08h 39m 02s	-50° 43’ 18”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 05	08h 39m 01s	-50° 39’ 01”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 06	08h 39m 01s	-50° 34’ 44”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 07	08h 39m 01s	-50° 30’ 28”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 08	08h 39m 02s	-50° 26’ 13”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 09	08h 39m 02s	-50° 22’ 01”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 10	08h 39m 05s	-50° 17’ 50”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 11	08h 39m 06s	-50° 13’ 41”	29.62	Vela
2021 May 12	08h 39m 10s	-50° 09’ 33”	29.62	Vela