Comet 16P/Brooks 2
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 Position
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 is currently in the constellation of Libra. The current Right Ascension is 15h 30m 31s and the Declination is -16° 02’ 30”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 16P/Brooks 2 is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 16P/Brooks 2 is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 16P/Brooks 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 16P/Brooks 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 Distance
The distance of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 from Earth is currently 635,658,337 kilometers, equivalent to 4.249114 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35 minutes and 20.3280 seconds to travel from Comet 16P/Brooks 2 and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 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 16P/Brooks 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 to Earth happens on Sun Oct 7 2068 at a distance of 0.77176214 Astronomical Units, or 115,453,973 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 is 23.35.
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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 16P/Brooks 2, 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 16P/Brooks 2 rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 16P/Brooks 2 rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 at epoch 21 May 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457164.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.56322341 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 4.26118723° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.46679247 AU 219,429,031 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.24965022 AU 785,336,497 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.35822135 AU 502,382,764 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.1500 years 2,247.8245 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2014-Jun-07 17:50:26 2,456,816.2434 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2020-Aug-02 13:37 2,459,064.0679 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 219.74884171579° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 159.28043242257° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 55.774989817647° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.16015485°/day |
Visualization of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 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 16P/Brooks 2 in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 16P/Brooks 2 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 16P/Brooks 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 16P/Brooks 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Aug 14 | 15h 28m 15s | -15° 48’ 51” | 23.34 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 15 | 15h 28m 32s | -15° 50’ 36” | 23.34 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 16 | 15h 28m 49s | -15° 52’ 23” | 23.34 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 17 | 15h 29m 07s | -15° 54’ 14” | 23.35 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 18 | 15h 29m 25s | -15° 56’ 06” | 23.35 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 19 | 15h 29m 44s | -15° 58’ 01” | 23.35 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 20 | 15h 30m 05s | -16° 00’ 00” | 23.35 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 21 | 15h 30m 25s | -16° 01’ 59” | 23.35 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 22 | 15h 30m 47s | -16° 04’ 02” | 23.36 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 23 | 15h 31m 10s | -16° 06’ 07” | 23.36 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 24 | 15h 31m 33s | -16° 08’ 16” | 23.36 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 25 | 15h 31m 59s | -16° 10’ 26” | 23.36 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 26 | 15h 32m 23s | -16° 12’ 38” | 23.36 | Libra |
| 2019 Aug 27 | 15h 32m 48s | -16° 14’ 53” | 23.37 | Libra |