Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is currently in the constellation of Orion. The current Right Ascension of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is 06h 02m 21s and the Declination is +16° 58’ 54” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is 23.19 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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 information about Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher 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.

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.

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck from Earth is currently 1,090,703,902 kilometers, equivalent to 7.290905 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 38.1966 seconds to travel from Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck and arrive to us.

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.

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 of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck to Earth happens on Tue Jul 31 2091 at a distance of 0.905015 Astronomical Units, or 135,388,253 kilometers:

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

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is 23.19.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

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.

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck rise and set times

Today's Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2020 Oct 22	06h 03m 37s	+17° 03’ 25”	23.21	Orion
2020 Oct 23	06h 03m 28s	+17° 02’ 47”	23.21	Orion
2020 Oct 24	06h 03m 19s	+17° 02’ 08”	23.21	Orion
2020 Oct 25	06h 03m 09s	+17° 01’ 31”	23.20	Orion
2020 Oct 26	06h 02m 58s	+17° 00’ 54”	23.20	Orion
2020 Oct 27	06h 02m 48s	+17° 00’ 16”	23.20	Orion
2020 Oct 28	06h 02m 36s	+16° 59’ 39”	23.20	Orion
2020 Oct 29	06h 02m 25s	+16° 59’ 03”	23.19	Orion
2020 Oct 30	06h 02m 12s	+16° 58’ 27”	23.19	Orion
2020 Oct 31	06h 01m 59s	+16° 57’ 52”	23.19	Orion
2020 Nov 01	06h 01m 45s	+16° 57’ 17”	23.19	Orion
2020 Nov 02	06h 01m 32s	+16° 56’ 44”	23.18	Orion
2020 Nov 03	06h 01m 18s	+16° 56’ 09”	23.18	Orion
2020 Nov 04	06h 01m 03s	+16° 55’ 36”	23.18	Orion