Comet 5D/Brorsen, also known as Comet Brorsen, was a periodic comet belonging to the Jupiter family of comets, which is now considered a lost comet. It was first discovered by the Danish astronomer Theodor Brorsen on February 26, 1846. Based on the collected observations, the comet had an orbital period of 5.46 years and traveled around the Sun in an eccentric orbit with the closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) at a distance of about 0.58 astronomical units (AU), and the farthest distance (aphelion) at around 5.6 AU. The latest successful observations of Comet 5D/Brorsen were conducted during the 1879 apparition, while it was not possible to find the comet again during any of the subsequent apparitions.

Find it in the Sky

Chose a date & time and view the position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) in the sky on our interactive planetarium.

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Comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost)

Above the horizon. Rise: 21:52 | Tran: 2:06 | Set: 6:25

Alt: 22.07° Az: 186.55° Direction: South

Comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 697,152,797.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 34m 23s and the Declination is -28° 02’ 28” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.18.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

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Star map showing the position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) in the constellation of Sagittarius on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.

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Star map showing the position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) in the constellation of Sagittarius 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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.

5D/Brorsen (Lost)
RA: 19h 32m 48s
Dec: -28° 05’ 52”

Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 19h 34m 23s

Declination -28° 02’ 28”

Hour Angle 00h 27m 30s

Sidereal Time 20h 01m 54s

J2000

Right Ascension 19h 32m 48s

Declination -28° 05’ 52”

Additional Information

Constellation Sagittarius

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 19.18

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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) from Virós, Grecia (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Athens):

Azimuth: 118.0° RISE 21:52

Max altitude: 22.4° TRANSIT 2:06

Azimuth: 242.0° SET 6:25

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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) from Earth is currently 697,152,797.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6601786091 Astronomical Units. Light takes 38m 45.451s to travel from comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) and arrive to us.

Distance Km 697,152,797.0

Distance AU 4.6601786091

Light Travel Time 38m 45.451s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) to Earth will happen on Tuesday 26 October 2083 at a distance of 0.259836 Astronomical Units, or 38,870,982 kilometers:

Date Tuesday 26 October 2083

Distance Kilometers 38,870,982

Distance AU 0.259836

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 5D/Brorsen (Lost), 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) at epoch UTC (JD: 2407440.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	0.80979600
Orbit inclination	i	29.38210000°
Perihelion distance	q	0.58984700 AU 88,239,855 km
Aphelion distance	Q	5.61240952 AU 839,604,516 km
Semi-major axis	a	3.10112826 AU 463,922,186 km
Orbital period	period	5.4612 years 1,994.7020 days
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	March 31, 1879 2,407,439.5341 JD
Next perihelion transit		September 14, 1884 2,409,434.2361 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	14.9468°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	102.9676°
Mean anomaly	M	0.17432378482129°
Mean motion	n	0.18047809°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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 5D/Brorsen (Lost) 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
Jul 01 2025	19h 40m 24s	-27° 42’ 16”	19.17	Sagittarius
Jul 02 2025	19h 39m 40s	-27° 44’ 54”	19.17	Sagittarius
Jul 03 2025	19h 38m 55s	-27° 47’ 31”	19.17	Sagittarius
Jul 04 2025	19h 38m 10s	-27° 50’ 05”	19.17	Sagittarius
Jul 05 2025	19h 37m 25s	-27° 52’ 39”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 06 2025	19h 36m 40s	-27° 55’ 09”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 07 2025	19h 35m 55s	-27° 57’ 39”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 08 2025	19h 35m 09s	-28° 00’ 06”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 09 2025	19h 34m 23s	-28° 02’ 31”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 10 2025	19h 33m 37s	-28° 04’ 54”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 11 2025	19h 32m 51s	-28° 07’ 14”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 12 2025	19h 32m 05s	-28° 09’ 32”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 13 2025	19h 31m 19s	-28° 11’ 47”	19.18	Sagittarius
Jul 14 2025	19h 30m 33s	-28° 14’ 01”	19.19	Sagittarius

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of comet 5D/Brorsen (Lost) for any date and time between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.