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public  Al Ḩumaydāt, Yemen Al Ḩumaydāt, Yemen  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Aden
Sunrise: 5:34 
Transit: 12:06 
Sunset: 18:38
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Comets » 

Comet 255P/Levy

Below the horizon.  Rise: 19:00 | Tran: 0:34 | Set: 6:13
Alt: -49.74°   Az: 259.83°   Direction: West

Comet 255P/Levy is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 595,716,410.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 17m 28s and the Declination is -19° 01’ 28” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 255P/Levy, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 41.03).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 255P/Levy in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 255P/Levy in the constellation of Sagittarius on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 255P/Levy in the constellation of Sagittarius 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 255P/Levy 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.

255P/Levy
RA: 19h 15m 58s
Dec: -19° 04’ 16”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 255P/Levy. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 17m 28s
-19° 01’ 28”
09h 10m 50s
04h 28m 19s

J2000

19h 15m 58s
-19° 04’ 16”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
41.03

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 255P/Levy from Al Ḩumaydāt, Yemen (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Aden):

Azimuth: 109.0°
Max altitude: 54.5°
Azimuth: 251.0°

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 255P/Levy from Earth is currently 595,716,410.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.9821182428 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33m 7.096s to travel from comet 255P/Levy and arrive to us.

595,716,410.0
3.9821182428
33m 7.096s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 255P/Levy 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 255P/Levy 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 255P/Levy 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 255P/Levy to Earth happened on Thursday 26 January 2012 at a distance of 0.235914 Astronomical Units, or 35,292,281 kilometers:

Thursday 26 January 2012
35,292,281
0.235914

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 255P/Levy, 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 255P/Levy as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 255P/Levy at epoch December, 21 2007 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454456.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.67200978
Orbit inclination i 18.33304279°
Perihelion distance q 0.99201756 AU
148,403,715 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.05705042 AU
756,523,976 km
Semi-major axis a 3.02453399 AU
452,463,845 km
Orbital period period 5.2601 years
1,921.2600 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp October 7, 2006
2,454,015.8847 JD
Next perihelion transit January 10, 2012
2,455,937.1446 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 179.59295524389°
Longitude of the ascending node node 279.78004827491°
Mean anomaly M 82.561190982814°
Mean motion n 0.18737704°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 255P/Levy 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 255P/Levy 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
Jun 25 2025 19h 23m 00s -18° 57’ 50” 41.07 Sagittarius
Jun 26 2025 19h 22m 15s -18° 58’ 19” 41.06 Sagittarius
Jun 27 2025 19h 21m 30s -18° 58’ 47” 41.06 Sagittarius
Jun 28 2025 19h 20m 45s -18° 59’ 17” 41.05 Sagittarius
Jun 29 2025 19h 20m 00s -18° 59’ 46” 41.05 Sagittarius
Jun 30 2025 19h 19m 14s -19° 00’ 17” 41.04 Sagittarius
Jul 01 2025 19h 18m 28s -19° 00’ 49” 41.04 Sagittarius
Jul 02 2025 19h 17m 41s -19° 01’ 19” 41.03 Sagittarius
Jul 03 2025 19h 16m 55s -19° 01’ 52” 41.03 Sagittarius
Jul 04 2025 19h 16m 08s -19° 02’ 23” 41.02 Sagittarius
Jul 05 2025 19h 15m 21s -19° 02’ 56” 41.02 Sagittarius
Jul 06 2025 19h 14m 34s -19° 03’ 29” 41.01 Sagittarius
Jul 07 2025 19h 13m 47s -19° 04’ 01” 41.01 Sagittarius
Jul 08 2025 19h 13m 00s -19° 04’ 35” 41.01 Sagittarius

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