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Comets » 

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -45.78°   Az: 216.30°   Direction: South-West

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is in the constellation of Dorado, at a distance of 931,089,814.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 05m 01s and the Declination is -65° 36’ 25” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is 24.61 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in Dorado on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in Dorado on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

161P/Hartley-IRAS
RA: 05h 04m 56s
Dec: -65° 38’ 24”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 05m 01s
-65° 36’ 25”
06h 03m 38s
11h 08m 40s

J2000

05h 04m 56s
-65° 38’ 24”

Additional Information

Dorado
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.61

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 161P/Hartley-IRAS from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS is not visible from Greenwich, UK

  • 161P/Hartley-IRAS is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 161P/Hartley-IRAS 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 161P/Hartley-IRAS from Earth is currently 931,089,814.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.2239509803 Astronomical Units. Light takes 51m 45.781s to travel from Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS and arrive to us.

931,089,814.0
6.2239509803
51m 45.781s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS 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 161P/Hartley-IRAS 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 161P/Hartley-IRAS to Earth happens on Fri Oct 2 2026 at a distance of 0.505482 Astronomical Units, or 75,618,969 kilometers:

Fri Oct 2 2026
75,618,969
0.505482

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 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS at epoch 03 July 2004 00:00 UTC (JD: 2453190.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.83508810
Orbit inclination i 95.69805020°
Perihelion distance q 1.27482939 AU
190,711,762 km
Aphelion distance Q 14.18590285 AU
2,122,180,865 km
Semi-major axis a 7.73036612 AU
1,156,446,313 km
Orbital period period 21.4936 years
7,850.5218 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2005-Jun-20 20:24:46
2,453,542.3505 JD
Next perihelion transit 2026-Dec-18 08:56
2,461,392.8723 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 47.091452375467°
Longitude of the ascending node node 1.3981653712267°
Mean anomaly M 343.86525171541°
Mean motion n 0.04585682°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS
View Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 05 05h 13m 32s -66° 37’ 47” 24.65 Dorado
2025 Feb 06 05h 12m 14s -66° 29’ 30” 24.65 Dorado
2025 Feb 07 05h 10m 58s -66° 21’ 04” 24.64 Dorado
2025 Feb 08 05h 09m 42s -66° 12’ 30” 24.63 Dorado
2025 Feb 09 05h 08m 30s -66° 03’ 50” 24.63 Dorado
2025 Feb 10 05h 07m 20s -65° 55’ 01” 24.62 Dorado
2025 Feb 11 05h 06m 12s -65° 46’ 05” 24.61 Dorado
2025 Feb 12 05h 05m 06s -65° 37’ 02” 24.61 Dorado
2025 Feb 13 05h 04m 02s -65° 27’ 53” 24.60 Dorado
2025 Feb 14 05h 03m 01s -65° 18’ 37” 24.59 Dorado
2025 Feb 15 05h 02m 01s -65° 09’ 16” 24.59 Dorado
2025 Feb 16 05h 01m 04s -64° 59’ 49” 24.58 Dorado
2025 Feb 17 05h 00m 08s -64° 50’ 16” 24.57 Dorado
2025 Feb 18 04h 59m 15s -64° 40’ 38” 24.57 Dorado

Additional Resources