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Comets » 

Comet 16P/Brooks

Below the horizon.  Rise: 0:33 | Tran: 5:28 | Set: 10:22
Alt: -50.86°   Az: 358.05°   Direction: North

Comet 16P/Brooks is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 775,500,890.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 14h 38m 48s and the Declination is -12° 20’ 58” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 16P/Brooks is 25.67 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 16P/Brooks in Libra on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 16P/Brooks in Libra on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 16P/Brooks is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

16P/Brooks
RA: 14h 37m 26s
Dec: -12° 14’ 30”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 16P/Brooks. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 16P/Brooks?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 16P/Brooks in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

14h 38m 48s
-12° 20’ 58”
11h 54m 58s
02h 33m 46s

J2000

14h 37m 26s
-12° 14’ 30”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.67

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 16P/Brooks from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.3°
Max altitude: 26.2°
Azimuth: 257.7°
  • 16P/Brooks is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 16P/Brooks 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 16P/Brooks from Earth is currently 775,500,890.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.1839032626 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43m 6.793s to travel from Comet 16P/Brooks and arrive to us.

775,500,890.0
5.1839032626
43m 6.793s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 16P/Brooks 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 16P/Brooks 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 16P/Brooks 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 16P/Brooks to Earth happens on Tue Oct 9 2068 at a distance of 0.771811 Astronomical Units, or 115,461,285 kilometers:

Tue Oct 9 2068
115,461,285
0.771811

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 16P/Brooks at epoch 11 June 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 2014-Jun-14 18:26:56
2,456,823.2687 JD
Next perihelion transit 2020-Aug-25 23:43
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 16P/Brooks
View Comet 16P/Brooks in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Jan 31 14h 37m 20s -12° 18’ 59” 25.73 Libra
2025 Feb 01 14h 37m 33s -12° 19’ 25” 25.72 Libra
2025 Feb 02 14h 37m 46s -12° 19’ 49” 25.72 Libra
2025 Feb 03 14h 37m 59s -12° 20’ 10” 25.71 Libra
2025 Feb 04 14h 38m 10s -12° 20’ 26” 25.70 Libra
2025 Feb 05 14h 38m 21s -12° 20’ 40” 25.69 Libra
2025 Feb 06 14h 38m 32s -12° 20’ 50” 25.69 Libra
2025 Feb 07 14h 38m 41s -12° 20’ 56” 25.68 Libra
2025 Feb 08 14h 38m 50s -12° 20’ 59” 25.67 Libra
2025 Feb 09 14h 38m 58s -12° 20’ 57” 25.66 Libra
2025 Feb 10 14h 39m 06s -12° 20’ 53” 25.65 Libra
2025 Feb 11 14h 39m 12s -12° 20’ 45” 25.65 Libra
2025 Feb 12 14h 39m 18s -12° 20’ 33” 25.64 Libra
2025 Feb 13 14h 39m 23s -12° 20’ 18” 25.63 Libra

Additional Resources