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Comets » 

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck

Above the horizon.  Rise: 8:05 | Tran: 15:29 | Set: 22:52
Alt: 36.25°   Az: 111.32°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 1,191,783,421.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 49m 02s and the Declination is +16° 15’ 42” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.84).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the constellation of Cancer on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck in the constellation of Cancer 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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.

53P/Van Biesbroeck
RA: 08h 47m 36s
Dec: +16° 21’ 24”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

08h 49m 02s
+16° 15’ 42”
20h 34m 01s
05h 23m 03s

J2000

08h 47m 36s
+16° 21’ 24”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.84

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 53P/Van Biesbroeck from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 73.7°
Max altitude: 54.8°
Azimuth: 286.2°

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 1,191,783,421.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.9665801085 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 6m 15.362s to travel from comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck and arrive to us.

1,191,783,421.0
7.9665801085
1h 6m 15.362s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 53P/Van Biesbroeck to Earth will happen on Tuesday 31 July 2091 at a distance of 0.904126 Astronomical Units, or 135,255,334 kilometers:

Tuesday 31 July 2091
135,255,334
0.904126

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck at epoch August, 16 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 April 30, 2016
2,457,509.3143 JD
Next perihelion transit November 23, 2028
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

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck 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 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
Jun 19 2025 08h 45m 10s +16° 28’ 22” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 20 2025 08h 45m 40s +16° 26’ 45” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 21 2025 08h 46m 10s +16° 25’ 06” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 22 2025 08h 46m 41s +16° 23’ 26” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 23 2025 08h 47m 12s +16° 21’ 45” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 24 2025 08h 47m 44s +16° 20’ 02” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 25 2025 08h 48m 15s +16° 18’ 17” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 26 2025 08h 48m 47s +16° 16’ 31” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 27 2025 08h 49m 19s +16° 14’ 44” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 28 2025 08h 49m 51s +16° 12’ 55” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 29 2025 08h 50m 24s +16° 11’ 05” 22.84 Cancer
Jun 30 2025 08h 50m 57s +16° 09’ 13” 22.84 Cancer
Jul 01 2025 08h 51m 29s +16° 07’ 20” 22.84 Cancer
Jul 02 2025 08h 52m 02s +16° 05’ 27” 22.84 Cancer

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