Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Louisville, United States Louisville, United States  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Chicago
Sunrise: 5:48 
Transit: 12:55 
Sunset: 20:01
wb_twilight   (Astronomical Twilight)  
Planets Visible Tonight
Planets Visible Tonight
 • 
What's Visible Now • Tonight Sky
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -32.20°   Az: 216.98°   Direction: South-West

Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) is in the constellation of Centaurus, at a distance of 7,801,440,942.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 13h 42m 02s and the Declination is -59° 01’ 11” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) is 34.51 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) in Centaurus on June, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) in Centaurus 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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)
RA: 13h 40m 19s
Dec: -58° 53’ 30”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 42m 02s
-59° 01’ 11”
06h 34m 20s
20h 16m 23s

J2000

13h 40m 19s
-58° 53’ 30”

Additional Information

Centaurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
34.51

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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) from Louisville, United States (all times relative to the local timezone America/Chicago):

Today Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) is not visible from Louisville, United States

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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) from Earth is currently 7,801,440,942.0 kilometers, equivalent to 52.1494116560 Astronomical Units. Light takes 7h 13m 42.806s to travel from Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) and arrive to us.

7,801,440,942.0
52.1494116560
7h 13m 42.806s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) 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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) 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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) to Earth happens on Wed Apr 24 2013 at a distance of 36.164740 Astronomical Units, or 5,410,168,144 kilometers:

Wed Apr 24 2013
5,410,168,144
36.164740

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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake), 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 C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) at epoch 14 March 1996 00:00 UTC (JD: 2450157.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99989165
Orbit inclination i 124.92204939°
Perihelion distance q 0.23022353 AU
34,440,950 km
Aphelion distance Q 4,249.28066526 AU
635,683,340,804 km
Semi-major axis a 2,124.75544439 AU
317,858,890,877 km
Orbital period period 97,942.5999 years
35,773,534.6234 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1996-May-01 09:27:34
2,450,204.8941 JD
Next perihelion transit 99940-Dec-11 00:25
38,223,739.5176 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 130.1751209781°
Longitude of the ascending node node 188.04513199216°
Mean anomaly M 359.99952305825°
Mean motion n 0.00001006°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)
View Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) 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 13h 42m 45s -59° 07’ 01” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 May 31 13h 42m 39s -59° 06’ 14” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 01 13h 42m 33s -59° 05’ 28” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 02 13h 42m 27s -59° 04’ 41” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 03 13h 42m 21s -59° 03’ 53” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 04 13h 42m 15s -59° 03’ 05” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 05 13h 42m 10s -59° 02’ 17” 34.50 Centaurus
2025 Jun 06 13h 42m 04s -59° 01’ 29” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 07 13h 41m 59s -59° 00’ 40” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 08 13h 41m 53s -58° 59’ 50” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 09 13h 41m 48s -58° 59’ 01” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 10 13h 41m 43s -58° 58’ 12” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 11 13h 41m 38s -58° 57’ 21” 34.51 Centaurus
2025 Jun 12 13h 41m 33s -58° 56’ 31” 34.51 Centaurus

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive