Comet Halley (1P/Halley)
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Sky Charts and Coordinates
This is a simplified sky chart, showing where Comet Halley (1P/Halley) is now with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.
More advanced sky charts are available on TheSkyLive for this object: 1) the Online Planetarium which is interactive and allows to select dates and additional objects to visualize; and 2) the Live Position and Data Tracker which provides the highest precision position data and features deep sky imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey.
High Precision Live Sky Chart
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 behvior 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.
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Rise and Set Times
Today's Comet Halley (1P/Halley) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. All times are relative to the Europe/London timezone.
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Orbit Diagram
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) 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!
View Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Sep 19 | 08h 28m 58s | +02° 12’ 28” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 20 | 08h 29m 00s | +02° 11’ 52” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 21 | 08h 29m 04s | +02° 11’ 16” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 22 | 08h 29m 08s | +02° 10’ 40” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 23 | 08h 29m 12s | +02° 10’ 04” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 24 | 08h 29m 16s | +02° 09’ 28” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 25 | 08h 29m 18s | +02° 08’ 53” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 26 | 08h 29m 21s | +02° 08’ 17” | 25.57 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 27 | 08h 29m 25s | +02° 07’ 41” | 25.56 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 28 | 08h 29m 27s | +02° 07’ 05” | 25.56 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 29 | 08h 29m 30s | +02° 06’ 29” | 25.56 | Hydra |
| 2018 Sep 30 | 08h 29m 34s | +02° 05’ 53” | 25.56 | Hydra |
| 2018 Oct 01 | 08h 29m 36s | +02° 05’ 17” | 25.56 | Hydra |
| 2018 Oct 02 | 08h 29m 39s | +02° 04’ 42” | 25.56 | Hydra |
Distance of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) from Earth
The following chart shows the distance of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) from Earth as a function of time. Distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with a 2 days interval.
The reported distances might be inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Halley's Comet is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Light Curve of Comet Halley (1P/Halley)
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet Halley (1P/Halley), 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 Halley (1P/Halley) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) at epoch 16 February 1994 00:00 UTC (JD: 2449400.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.96714291 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 162.26269058° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.58597811 AU 87,661,078 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
35.08231047 AU 5,248,238,957 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
17.83414429 AU 2,667,950,017 km |
| Orbital period | period |
75.3200 years 27,509.1291 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 1986-Feb-05 21:29:15 2,446,467.3953 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2061-Jun-01 00:35 2,473,976.5244 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 111.33248510452° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 58.420080976568° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 38.384264476439° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.01308656°/day |
| Closest approach to Earth* | 2061-Jul-29 | |
| Distance of closest approach* | 0.47799017 AU 71,506,311 km |
|
* NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed for the time interval between 2013-Jan-01 and 2075-Dec-31, with a sampling interval of 1 day.