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Comets » 

Comet 19P/Borrelly

Above the horizon.  Rise: 16:48 | Tran: 21:23 | Set: 2:01
Alt: 19.84°   Az: 202.58°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 19P/Borrelly is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 783,957,076.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 54m 47s and the Declination is -15° 59’ 00” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 19P/Borrelly, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 24.59.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 19P/Borrelly in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 19P/Borrelly in the constellation of Libra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 19P/Borrelly in the constellation of Libra 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 19P/Borrelly 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.

19P/Borrelly
RA: 15h 53m 20s
Dec: -15° 54’ 32”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 19P/Borrelly. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 54m 47s
-15° 59’ 00”
01h 28m 16s
17h 23m 04s

J2000

15h 53m 20s
-15° 54’ 32”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.59

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 19P/Borrelly from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 106.0°
Max altitude: 22.5°
Azimuth: 254.0°

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 19P/Borrelly from Earth is currently 783,957,076.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.2404293746 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43m 34.999s to travel from comet 19P/Borrelly and arrive to us.

783,957,076.0
5.2404293746
43m 34.999s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly to Earth will happen on Wednesday 6 December 2028 at a distance of 0.412670 Astronomical Units, or 61,734,601 kilometers:

Wednesday 6 December 2028
61,734,601
0.412670

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 19P/Borrelly, 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 19P/Borrelly as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 19P/Borrelly at epoch March, 05 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459279.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.63791428
Orbit inclination i 29.31866223°
Perihelion distance q 1.30603039 AU
195,379,366 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.90789896 AU
883,809,107 km
Semi-major axis a 3.60696468 AU
539,594,237 km
Orbital period period 6.8505 years
2,502.1380 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp February 1, 2022
2,459,612.2641 JD
Next perihelion transit December 8, 2028
2,462,114.4021 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 351.86160719585°
Longitude of the ascending node node 74.300843098016°
Mean anomaly M 312.12291943143°
Mean motion n 0.14387696°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly 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
Jul 07 2025 15h 57m 39s -15° 51’ 35” 24.54 Libra
Jul 08 2025 15h 57m 15s -15° 52’ 25” 24.55 Libra
Jul 09 2025 15h 56m 52s -15° 53’ 16” 24.55 Libra
Jul 10 2025 15h 56m 29s -15° 54’ 10” 24.56 Libra
Jul 11 2025 15h 56m 07s -15° 55’ 05” 24.56 Libra
Jul 12 2025 15h 55m 46s -15° 56’ 02” 24.57 Libra
Jul 13 2025 15h 55m 25s -15° 57’ 01” 24.58 Libra
Jul 14 2025 15h 55m 05s -15° 58’ 02” 24.58 Libra
Jul 15 2025 15h 54m 45s -15° 59’ 05” 24.59 Libra
Jul 16 2025 15h 54m 27s -16° 00’ 10” 24.59 Libra
Jul 17 2025 15h 54m 09s -16° 01’ 16” 24.60 Libra
Jul 18 2025 15h 53m 51s -16° 02’ 25” 24.60 Libra
Jul 19 2025 15h 53m 35s -16° 03’ 36” 24.61 Libra
Jul 20 2025 15h 53m 19s -16° 04’ 48” 24.61 Libra

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