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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:59 
Transit: 13:05 
Sunset: 21:11
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Comets » 

Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -51.31°   Az: 187.82°   Direction: South

Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) is in the constellation of Octans, at a distance of 7,379,115,602.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 00m 19s and the Declination is -85° 07’ 23” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 20.05.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) in the constellation of Octans on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) in the constellation of Octans 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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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.

C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)
RA: 22h 57m 14s
Dec: -85° 15’ 36”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 00m 19s
-85° 07’ 23”
06h 04m 15s
05h 04m 35s

J2000

22h 57m 14s
-85° 15’ 36”

Additional Information

Octans
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.05

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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Greenwich, UKToday comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) is not visible from

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/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from Earth is currently 7,379,115,602.0 kilometers, equivalent to 49.3263411269 Astronomical Units. Light takes 6h 50m 14.080s to travel from comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and arrive to us.

7,379,115,602.0
49.3263411269
6h 50m 14.080s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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, 2013 and December 30, 2100, the closest approach of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) to Earth happened on Monday 27 May 2013 at a distance of 34.005886 Astronomical Units, or 5,087,208,201 kilometers:

Monday 27 May 2013
5,087,208,201
34.005886

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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), 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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at epoch September, 14 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459837.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99498100
Orbit inclination i 89.28759425°
Perihelion distance q 0.89053766 AU
133,222,539 km
Aphelion distance Q 353.97623016 AU
52,954,090,417 km
Semi-major axis a 177.43338391 AU
26,543,656,478 km
Orbital period period 2,363.5305 years
863,279.5035 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 29, 1997
2,450,537.1349 JD
Next perihelion transit October 27, 4360
3,313,816.6384 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 130.41466706592°
Longitude of the ascending node node 282.73342139616°
Mean anomaly M 3.8783863394232°
Mean motion n 0.00041701°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 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 06 2025 23h 03m 57s -85° 00’ 01” 20.05 Octans
Jul 07 2025 23h 03m 30s -85° 01’ 03” 20.05 Octans
Jul 08 2025 23h 03m 03s -85° 02’ 04” 20.05 Octans
Jul 09 2025 23h 02m 35s -85° 03’ 05” 20.05 Octans
Jul 10 2025 23h 02m 06s -85° 04’ 05” 20.05 Octans
Jul 11 2025 23h 01m 36s -85° 05’ 04” 20.05 Octans
Jul 12 2025 23h 01m 04s -85° 06’ 03” 20.05 Octans
Jul 13 2025 23h 00m 32s -85° 07’ 00” 20.05 Octans
Jul 14 2025 23h 00m 00s -85° 07’ 57” 20.05 Octans
Jul 15 2025 22h 59m 26s -85° 08’ 54” 20.05 Octans
Jul 16 2025 22h 58m 51s -85° 09’ 49” 20.05 Octans
Jul 17 2025 22h 58m 16s -85° 10’ 44” 20.05 Octans
Jul 18 2025 22h 57m 39s -85° 11’ 38” 20.05 Octans
Jul 19 2025 22h 57m 02s -85° 12’ 31” 20.06 Octans

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