Comet 4P/Faye

Comet 4P/Faye is a short-period comet that orbits the Sun once every 7.34 years. It was discovered by Hervé Faye on November 23, 1843. The perihelion distance of the comet is about 1.61 AU, while its aphelion distance is approximately 6.03 AU. The orbital period is 7.48 Earth years.

Comet 4P/Faye is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 4P/Faye is 12h 34m 02s and the Declination is -04° 01’ 15” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 4P/Faye is 21.59 (JPL).

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 4P/Faye from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 4P/Faye?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 4P/Faye from Earth?)
• When does Comet 4P/Faye rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 4P/Faye?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 4P/Faye orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 4P/Faye with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 4P/Faye for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 4P/Faye in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 4P/Faye with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 4P/Faye is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 4P/Faye?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 4P/Faye in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 4P/Faye Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 4P/Faye from Earth is currently 914,275,545 kilometers, equivalent to 6.111555 Astronomical Units. Light takes 50 minutes and 49.6949 seconds to travel from Comet 4P/Faye and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 4P/Faye 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.

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 4P/Faye from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 4P/Faye to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 4P/Faye to Earth happens on Tue Oct 31 2073 at a distance of 0.612694 Astronomical Units, or 91,657,788 kilometers:

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

Comet 4P/Faye Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 4P/Faye, 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.

Visualization of Comet 4P/Faye Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 4P/Faye with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 4P/Faye 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!

Comet 4P/Faye 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 4P/Faye computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 4P/Faye in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Sep 22	12h 28m 27s	-03° 28’ 45”	21.56	Virgo
2023 Sep 23	12h 29m 15s	-03° 33’ 20”	21.56	Virgo
2023 Sep 24	12h 30m 02s	-03° 37’ 56”	21.57	Virgo
2023 Sep 25	12h 30m 50s	-03° 42’ 33”	21.57	Virgo
2023 Sep 26	12h 31m 37s	-03° 47’ 08”	21.57	Virgo
2023 Sep 27	12h 32m 25s	-03° 51’ 44”	21.58	Virgo
2023 Sep 28	12h 33m 11s	-03° 56’ 21”	21.58	Virgo
2023 Sep 29	12h 34m 00s	-04° 00’ 56”	21.59	Virgo
2023 Sep 30	12h 34m 46s	-04° 05’ 31”	21.59	Virgo
2023 Oct 01	12h 35m 34s	-04° 10’ 06”	21.59	Virgo
2023 Oct 02	12h 36m 20s	-04° 14’ 42”	21.60	Virgo
2023 Oct 03	12h 37m 09s	-04° 19’ 15”	21.60	Virgo
2023 Oct 04	12h 37m 55s	-04° 23’ 50”	21.60	Virgo
2023 Oct 05	12h 38m 43s	-04° 28’ 24”	21.61	Virgo