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public  Mesiméri, Greece Mesiméri, Greece  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Athens
Sunrise: 6:03 
Transit: 13:32 
Sunset: 21:00
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Comets » 

Comet 88P/Howell

Above the horizon.  Rise: 11:02 | Tran: 17:37 | Set: 0:12
Alt: 15.03°   Az: 88.63°   Direction: East

Comet 88P/Howell is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 466,939,627.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 10h 52m 38s and the Declination is +10° 42’ 06” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 88P/Howell, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 18.64).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 88P/Howell in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 88P/Howell in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 88P/Howell in the constellation of Leo 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 88P/Howell 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.

88P/Howell
RA: 10h 51m 17s
Dec: +10° 50’ 15”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 88P/Howell. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

10h 52m 38s
+10° 42’ 06”
18h 42m 49s
05h 35m 28s

J2000

10h 51m 17s
+10° 50’ 15”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.64

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 88P/Howell from Mesiméri, Greece (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Athens):

Azimuth: 79.3°
Max altitude: 60.3°
Azimuth: 280.6°

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 88P/Howell from Earth is currently 466,939,627.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.1212986175 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25m 57.543s to travel from comet 88P/Howell and arrive to us.

466,939,627.0
3.1212986175
25m 57.543s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 88P/Howell 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 88P/Howell 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 88P/Howell 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 88P/Howell to Earth will happen on Tuesday 3 June 2042 at a distance of 0.765011 Astronomical Units, or 114,443,960 kilometers:

Tuesday 3 June 2042
114,443,960
0.765011

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 88P/Howell, 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 88P/Howell as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 88P/Howell at epoch June, 04 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458274.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.56379173
Orbit inclination i 4.38385956°
Perihelion distance q 1.35519378 AU
202,734,104 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.85832340 AU
726,794,837 km
Semi-major axis a 3.10675859 AU
464,764,470 km
Orbital period period 5.4761 years
2,000.1367 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 26, 2020
2,459,119.3154 JD
Next perihelion transit March 19, 2026
2,461,119.4521 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 235.85288188653°
Longitude of the ascending node node 56.701921165886°
Mean anomaly M 207.94362350387°
Mean motion n 0.17998769°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 88P/Howell 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 88P/Howell 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 25 2025 10h 45m 24s +11° 35’ 38” 18.67 Leo
Jun 26 2025 10h 46m 20s +11° 28’ 38” 18.67 Leo
Jun 27 2025 10h 47m 17s +11° 21’ 34” 18.66 Leo
Jun 28 2025 10h 48m 15s +11° 14’ 24” 18.66 Leo
Jun 29 2025 10h 49m 14s +11° 07’ 10” 18.65 Leo
Jun 30 2025 10h 50m 13s +10° 59’ 52” 18.65 Leo
Jul 01 2025 10h 51m 13s +10° 52’ 29” 18.65 Leo
Jul 02 2025 10h 52m 14s +10° 45’ 01” 18.64 Leo
Jul 03 2025 10h 53m 15s +10° 37’ 30” 18.64 Leo
Jul 04 2025 10h 54m 17s +10° 29’ 53” 18.63 Leo
Jul 05 2025 10h 55m 20s +10° 22’ 12” 18.63 Leo
Jul 06 2025 10h 56m 24s +10° 14’ 27” 18.62 Leo
Jul 07 2025 10h 57m 28s +10° 06’ 38” 18.62 Leo
Jul 08 2025 10h 58m 33s +09° 58’ 44” 18.61 Leo

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