Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is currently in the constellation of Octans. The current Right Ascension of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is 23h 30m 10s and the Declination is -86° 16’ 25” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is 25.33 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) from Earth is currently 6,518,412,583 kilometers, equivalent to 43.572897 Astronomical Units. Light takes 6 hours, 2 minutes and 23.0840 seconds to travel from Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) 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.

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/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) to Earth

Between January 1900 and January 2100 the closest approach of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) to Earth happens on Sat Mar 22 1997 at a distance of 1.31520449 Astronomical Units, or 196,751,791 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is 25.33.

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 Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1), 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 Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) rise and set times

Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) 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 Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) 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 Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2020 Aug 08	23h 38m 12s	-86° 10’ 48”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 09	23h 37m 09s	-86° 11’ 39”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 10	23h 36m 07s	-86° 12’ 26”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 11	23h 35m 03s	-86° 13’ 14”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 12	23h 33m 59s	-86° 14’ 00”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 13	23h 32m 53s	-86° 14’ 44”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 14	23h 31m 45s	-86° 15’ 29”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 15	23h 30m 37s	-86° 16’ 09”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 16	23h 29m 27s	-86° 16’ 50”	25.33	Octans
2020 Aug 17	23h 28m 18s	-86° 17’ 29”	25.34	Octans
2020 Aug 18	23h 27m 06s	-86° 18’ 06”	25.34	Octans
2020 Aug 19	23h 25m 54s	-86° 18’ 42”	25.34	Octans
2020 Aug 20	23h 24m 41s	-86° 19’ 15”	25.34	Octans
2020 Aug 21	23h 23m 26s	-86° 19’ 47”	25.34	Octans