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public  Hongping, China Hongping, China  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:39 
Transit: 12:42 
Sunset: 19:46
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Comets » 

Comet 16P/Brooks

Above the horizon.  Rise: 13:59 | Tran: 19:37 | Set: 1:16
Alt: 50.27°   Az: 175.68°   Direction: South

Comet 16P/Brooks is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 734,503,449.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 13h 50m 38s and the Declination is -07° 58’ 30” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 16P/Brooks, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 25.41).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 16P/Brooks in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 16P/Brooks in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 16P/Brooks in the constellation of Virgo 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 16P/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.

16P/Brooks
RA: 13h 49m 17s
Dec: -07° 50’ 57”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 16P/Brooks. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 50m 38s
-07° 58’ 30”
23h 48m 50s
13h 39m 28s

J2000

13h 49m 17s
-07° 50’ 57”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.41

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 16P/Brooks from Hongping, China (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 98.0°
Max altitude: 50.4°
Azimuth: 262.0°

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 16P/Brooks from Earth is currently 734,503,449.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9098522964 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 50.040s to travel from comet 16P/Brooks and arrive to us.

734,503,449.0
4.9098522964
40m 50.040s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 16P/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 16P/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 16P/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 16P/Brooks to Earth will happen on Tuesday 9 October 2068 at a distance of 0.771811 Astronomical Units, or 115,461,285 kilometers:

Tuesday 9 October 2068
115,461,285
0.771811

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 16P/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 16P/Brooks as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 16P/Brooks at epoch June, 11 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457551.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.56897473
Orbit inclination i 4.30690001°
Perihelion distance q 1.45450812 AU
217,591,318 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.29455387 AU
792,053,987 km
Semi-major axis a 3.37453100 AU
504,822,653 km
Orbital period period 6.1991 years
2,264.2197 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp June 14, 2014
2,456,823.2687 JD
Next perihelion transit August 25, 2020
2,459,087.4884 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 220.16604620772°
Longitude of the ascending node node 159.34301681038°
Mean anomaly M 115.78526104292°
Mean motion n 0.15899517°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 16P/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 16P/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 27 2025 13h 50m 53s -07° 55’ 32” 25.37 Virgo
Jun 28 2025 13h 50m 48s -07° 55’ 43” 25.38 Virgo
Jun 29 2025 13h 50m 45s -07° 55’ 57” 25.38 Virgo
Jun 30 2025 13h 50m 42s -07° 56’ 16” 25.39 Virgo
Jul 01 2025 13h 50m 39s -07° 56’ 39” 25.39 Virgo
Jul 02 2025 13h 50m 38s -07° 57’ 06” 25.40 Virgo
Jul 03 2025 13h 50m 37s -07° 57’ 37” 25.40 Virgo
Jul 04 2025 13h 50m 37s -07° 58’ 12” 25.41 Virgo
Jul 05 2025 13h 50m 38s -07° 58’ 51” 25.41 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 13h 50m 39s -07° 59’ 34” 25.42 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 13h 50m 41s -08° 00’ 21” 25.42 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 13h 50m 44s -08° 01’ 12” 25.43 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 13h 50m 47s -08° 02’ 07” 25.43 Virgo
Jul 10 2025 13h 50m 51s -08° 03’ 06” 25.43 Virgo

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