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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 5:39  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 20:14
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Comets » 

Comet 19P/Borrelly

Altitude: -26.9°   Azimuth: 302.3°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 19P/Borrelly is currently in the constellation of Serpens, at a distance of 663,952,781 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of 19P/Borrelly in Serpens on April,27 2024
Map showing Comet 19P/Borrelly in Serpens on April, 27 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Comet 19P/Borrelly is 15h 38m 28s and the Declination is -03° 16’ 46” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 19P/Borrelly is 24.27 (JPL).

15h 38m 28s
-03° 16’ 46”
Serpens
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.27

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.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 19P/Borrelly from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 93.3°
Max altitude: 35.2°
Azimuth: 266.7°
  • 19P/Borrelly is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Given its current magnitude, 19P/Borrelly 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.

Additional Resources

Comet 19P/Borrelly Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of 19P/Borrelly
Map showing Comet 19P/Borrelly in Serpens on April, 27 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 19P/Borrelly is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

19P/Borrelly
RA: 15h 38m 28s
Dec: -03° 16’ 46”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 19P/Borrelly
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 19P/Borrelly?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 19P/Borrelly in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 19P/Borrelly Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 19P/Borrelly from Earth is currently 663,952,781 kilometers, equivalent to 4.438250 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36 minutes and 54.7081 seconds to travel from Comet 19P/Borrelly and arrive to us.

663,952,781
4.438250
36 minutes and 54.7081 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly 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 19P/Borrelly from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 19P/Borrelly to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 19P/Borrelly to Earth happens on Wed Dec 6 2028 at a distance of 0.414136 Astronomical Units, or 61,953,874 kilometers:

Wed Dec 6 2028
61,953,874
0.414136

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 19P/Borrelly Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 19P/Borrelly, 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 19P/Borrelly as a function of time

Comet 19P/Borrelly Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 19P/Borrelly at epoch 09 February 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459255.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.63794908
Orbit inclination i 29.32349908°
Perihelion distance q 1.30589761 AU
195,359,503 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.90799157 AU
883,822,961 km
Semi-major axis a 3.60694459 AU
539,591,232 km
Orbital period period 6.8504 years
2,502.1171 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Feb-01 18:03:22
2,459,612.2523 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Dec-08 20:52
2,462,114.3695 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 351.85637184474°
Longitude of the ascending node node 74.310740143697°
Mean anomaly M 308.67113065509°
Mean motion n 0.14387816°/day

Visualization of Comet 19P/Borrelly Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 19P/Borrelly with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 19P/Borrelly 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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 19P/Borrelly
View Comet 19P/Borrelly in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 19P/Borrelly 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 19P/Borrelly in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Apr 20 15h 42m 59s -03° 29’ 27” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 21 15h 42m 23s -03° 27’ 38” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 22 15h 41m 48s -03° 25’ 51” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 23 15h 41m 12s -03° 24’ 06” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 24 15h 40m 35s -03° 22’ 23” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 25 15h 39m 59s -03° 20’ 40” 24.26 Serpens
2024 Apr 26 15h 39m 20s -03° 19’ 01” 24.27 Serpens
2024 Apr 27 15h 38m 44s -03° 17’ 25” 24.27 Serpens
2024 Apr 28 15h 38m 05s -03° 15’ 50” 24.27 Serpens
2024 Apr 29 15h 37m 27s -03° 14’ 17” 24.27 Serpens
2024 Apr 30 15h 36m 48s -03° 12’ 47” 24.27 Serpens
2024 May 01 15h 36m 10s -03° 11’ 20” 24.28 Serpens
2024 May 02 15h 35m 30s -03° 09’ 56” 24.28 Serpens
2024 May 03 15h 34m 51s -03° 08’ 34” 24.28 Serpens