Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Bellevue, United States Bellevue, United States  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Chicago
Sunrise: 5:29 
Transit: 12:57 
Sunset: 20:25
wb_twilight   (Nautical Twilight)  
Planets Visible Tonight
Planets Visible Tonight
 • 
What's Visible Now • Tonight Sky
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck

Below the horizon.  Rise: 9:38 | Tran: 16:35 | Set: 23:37
Alt: -32.54°   Az: 359.94°   Direction: North

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 1,165,573,012.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 39m 11s and the Declination is +16° 46’ 33” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is 22.82 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in Cancer on June, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in Cancer on June, 06 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 45s
Dec: +16° 51’ 58”
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 39m 11s
+16° 46’ 33”
11h 59m 46s
20h 38m 58s

J2000

08h 37m 45s
+16° 51’ 58”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.82

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 Bellevue, United States (all times relative to the local timezone America/Chicago):

Azimuth: 73.2°
Max altitude: 66.1°
Azimuth: 286.8°

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 1,165,573,012.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.7913743461 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 4m 47.933s to travel from Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck and arrive to us.

1,165,573,012.0
7.7913743461
1h 4m 47.933s

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
2h1>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 May 30 08h 36m 04s +16° 55’ 13” 22.81 Cancer
2025 May 31 08h 36m 28s +16° 54’ 08” 22.81 Cancer
2025 Jun 01 08h 36m 52s +16° 53’ 02” 22.81 Cancer
2025 Jun 02 08h 37m 17s +16° 51’ 54” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 03 08h 37m 43s +16° 50’ 43” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 04 08h 38m 08s +16° 49’ 31” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 05 08h 38m 34s +16° 48’ 19” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 06 08h 39m 01s +16° 47’ 04” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 07 08h 39m 27s +16° 45’ 47” 22.82 Cancer
2025 Jun 08 08h 39m 54s +16° 44’ 28” 22.83 Cancer
2025 Jun 09 08h 40m 22s +16° 43’ 09” 22.83 Cancer
2025 Jun 10 08h 40m 49s +16° 41’ 47” 22.83 Cancer
2025 Jun 11 08h 41m 17s +16° 40’ 24” 22.83 Cancer
2025 Jun 12 08h 41m 44s +16° 38’ 59” 22.83 Cancer

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive