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Comets » 

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck

Above the horizon.  Rise: 15:40 | Tran: 23:01 | Set: 6:27
Alt: 29.03°   Az: 258.77°   Direction: West

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 975,530,039.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 38m 54s and the Declination is +15° 52’ 34” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is 22.59 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in Cancer on February, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in Cancer on February, 13 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

53P/Van Biesbroeck
RA: 08h 37m 30s
Dec: +15° 57’ 55”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

08h 38m 54s
+15° 52’ 34”
04h 12m 20s
12h 51m 15s

J2000

08h 37m 30s
+15° 57’ 55”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.59

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 74.1°
Max altitude: 54.4°
Azimuth: 285.9°
  • 53P/Van Biesbroeck is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the West direction at an altitude of 29.03° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck from Earth is currently 975,530,039.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.5210155361 Astronomical Units. Light takes 54m 14.018s to travel from Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck and arrive to us.

975,530,039.0
6.5210155361
54m 14.018s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck to Earth happens on Tue Jul 31 2091 at a distance of 0.904126 Astronomical Units, or 135,255,334 kilometers:

Tue Jul 31 2091
135,255,334
0.904126

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 53P/Van Biesbroeck, 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck at epoch 16 August 2011 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455790.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.55105953
Orbit inclination i 6.61118154°
Perihelion distance q 2.42633019 AU
362,973,831 km
Aphelion distance Q 8.38280984 AU
1,254,050,505 km
Semi-major axis a 5.40457001 AU
808,512,168 km
Orbital period period 12.5646 years
4,589.2334 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2016-Apr-30 19:32:35
2,457,509.3143 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Nov-23 01:08
2,462,098.5477 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 134.26401284642°
Longitude of the ascending node node 148.89819728366°
Mean anomaly M 225.16851702969°
Mean motion n 0.07844447°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck
View Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 06 08h 42m 03s +15° 38’ 05” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 07 08h 41m 36s +15° 40’ 08” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 08 08h 41m 10s +15° 42’ 11” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 09 08h 40m 43s +15° 44’ 13” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 10 08h 40m 16s +15° 46’ 15” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 11 08h 39m 50s +15° 48’ 16” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 12 08h 39m 24s +15° 50’ 18” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 13 08h 38m 58s +15° 52’ 18” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 14 08h 38m 32s +15° 54’ 19” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 15 08h 38m 07s +15° 56’ 17” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 16 08h 37m 41s +15° 58’ 16” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 17 08h 37m 16s +16° 00’ 14” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 18 08h 36m 51s +16° 02’ 11” 22.59 Cancer
2025 Feb 19 08h 36m 27s +16° 04’ 07” 22.59 Cancer

Additional Resources