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Comets » 

Comet 19P/Borrelly

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:51 | Tran: 7:27 | Set: 12:04
Alt: -42.10°   Az: 303.59°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 19P/Borrelly is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 916,801,534.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 16h 42m 30s and the Declination is -15° 35’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 19P/Borrelly is 24.86 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 19P/Borrelly in Ophiuchus on February, 08 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 19P/Borrelly in Ophiuchus on February, 08 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 16h 41m 04s
Dec: -15° 33’ 10”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 19P/Borrelly. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

16h 42m 30s
-15° 35’ 59”
09h 20m 19s
02h 02m 49s

J2000

16h 41m 04s
-15° 33’ 10”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.86

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

Azimuth: 105.6°
Max altitude: 22.9°
Azimuth: 254.4°
  • 19P/Borrelly is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 19P/Borrelly from Earth is currently 916,801,534.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.1284397279 Astronomical Units. Light takes 50m 58.121s to travel from Comet 19P/Borrelly and arrive to us.

916,801,534.0
6.1284397279
50m 58.121s

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 19P/Borrelly to Earth happens on Wed Dec 6 2028 at a distance of 0.412670 Astronomical Units, or 61,734,601 kilometers:

Wed Dec 6 2028
61,734,601
0.412670

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 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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 19P/Borrelly at epoch 05 March 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 2022-Feb-01 18:20:15
2,459,612.2641 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Dec-08 21:38
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

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

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
2025 Feb 01 16h 39m 17s -15° 28’ 20” 24.89 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 02 16h 39m 44s -15° 29’ 25” 24.89 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 03 16h 40m 10s -15° 30’ 29” 24.88 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 04 16h 40m 35s -15° 31’ 31” 24.88 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 05 16h 41m 00s -15° 32’ 31” 24.88 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 16h 41m 25s -15° 33’ 29” 24.87 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 16h 41m 49s -15° 34’ 25” 24.87 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 08 16h 42m 13s -15° 35’ 21” 24.86 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 09 16h 42m 36s -15° 36’ 15” 24.86 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 10 16h 42m 58s -15° 37’ 07” 24.85 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 11 16h 43m 21s -15° 37’ 57” 24.85 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 12 16h 43m 43s -15° 38’ 46” 24.85 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 13 16h 44m 04s -15° 39’ 34” 24.84 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 14 16h 44m 24s -15° 40’ 20” 24.84 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources