Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck

Available Resources

• Position (see also Where is Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck?)
• Distance (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.

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 0.90501457 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 22.93.

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 Feb 17	04h 32m 25s	+15° 18’ 36”	22.88	Taurus
2020 Feb 18	04h 32m 26s	+15° 19’ 40”	22.89	Taurus
2020 Feb 19	04h 32m 30s	+15° 20’ 44”	22.90	Taurus
2020 Feb 20	04h 32m 33s	+15° 21’ 50”	22.90	Taurus
2020 Feb 21	04h 32m 35s	+15° 22’ 55”	22.91	Taurus
2020 Feb 22	04h 32m 39s	+15° 24’ 03”	22.92	Taurus
2020 Feb 23	04h 32m 44s	+15° 25’ 13”	22.92	Taurus
2020 Feb 24	04h 32m 51s	+15° 26’ 21”	22.93	Taurus
2020 Feb 25	04h 32m 56s	+15° 27’ 33”	22.94	Taurus
2020 Feb 26	04h 33m 02s	+15° 28’ 44”	22.94	Taurus
2020 Feb 27	04h 33m 10s	+15° 29’ 57”	22.95	Taurus
2020 Feb 28	04h 33m 16s	+15° 31’ 09”	22.96	Taurus
2020 Feb 29	04h 33m 24s	+15° 32’ 23”	22.96	Taurus
2020 Mar 01	04h 33m 33s	+15° 33’ 39”	22.97	Taurus