Comet 1P/Halley, also known as Halley's Comet, is a well-known periodic comet that returns to the inner solar system about once every 76 years. It has been observed since ancient times, but it was not recognized as a periodic solar system object until its orbit was accurately calculated by Edmund Halley in the 18th century. The comet's nucleus is estimated to be about 15 kilometers in diameter and it is composed of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. When the comet gets close to the Sun, the heat causes the ice to vaporize and create a coma, a cloud of gas and dust around the nucleus, and a long tail that can stretch millions of kilometers into space. Halley's Comet has an aphelion distance of 35.1 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, at the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt, and a perihelion distance of 0.6 AU, just inside the orbit of Venus. Its last perihelion passage was in 1986. Currently Halley's Comet is close to its aphelion and it is expected to return to the inner solar system in 2061.

Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Position Calculator

Compute the position of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) for any date and time between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499 and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.

Time: : UTC

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Comet Halley (1P/Halley)

Above the horizon. Rise: 11:21 | Tran: 17:36 | Set: 23:51

Alt: 36.69° Az: 215.06° Direction: South-West

Comet Halley (1P/Halley) is in the constellation of Canis Minoris, at a distance of 5,302,214,275.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 11m 29s and the Declination is +03° 21’ 51” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) is 25.61 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

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Map showing Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in Canis Minoris on May, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Sky map showing Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in Canis Minoris on May, 15 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet Halley (1P/Halley) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

1P/Halley
RA: 08h 10m 09s
Dec: +03° 26’ 26”

Deep sky finder chart for Comet Halley (1P/Halley). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet Halley (1P/Halley)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 08h 11m 29s

Declination +03° 21’ 51”

Hour Angle 01h 49m 55s

Sidereal Time 10h 01m 25s

J2000

Right Ascension 08h 10m 09s

Declination +03° 26’ 26”

Additional Information

Constellation Canis Minoris

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 25.61

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 Halley (1P/Halley) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 86.6° RISE 11:21

Max altitude: 41.9° TRANSIT 17:36

Azimuth: 273.4° SET 23:51

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

1P/Halley is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
Right now it is placed in the South-West direction at an altitude of 36.69° above the horizon.
Given its current magnitude, 1P/Halley is visible only through long exposure photography.
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Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) from Earth is currently 5,302,214,275.0 kilometers, equivalent to 35.4431132622 Astronomical Units. Light takes 4h 54m 46.283s to travel from Comet Halley (1P/Halley) and arrive to us.

Distance Km 5,302,214,275.0

Distance AU 35.4431132622

Light Travel Time 4h 54m 46.283s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) 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 Halley (1P/Halley) 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 1P/Halley from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) to Earth happens on Sat May 8 2134 at a distance of 0.093428 Astronomical Units, or 13,976,613 kilometers:

Date Sat May 8 2134

Distance Kilometers 13,976,613

Distance AU 0.093428

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 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) at epoch 01 January 1970 00:00 UTC (JD: 2439857.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	0.96794279
Orbit inclination	i	162.18787119°
Perihelion distance	q	0.57471580 AU 85,976,260 km
Aphelion distance	Q	35.28091967 AU 5,277,950,470 km
Semi-major axis	a	17.92781774 AU 2,681,963,365 km
Orbital period	period	75.9101 years 27,726.1500 days
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	1986-Feb-08 15:34:24 2,446,470.1489 JD
Next perihelion transit		2062-Jan-06 19:10 2,474,196.2989 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	112.25779200487°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	59.114482936739°
Mean anomaly	M	274.14049194984°
Mean motion	n	0.01298413°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet Halley (1P/Halley)
View Comet Halley (1P/Halley) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days 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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2025 May 08	08h 11m 13s	+03° 19’ 10”	25.60	Canis Minoris
2025 May 09	08h 11m 15s	+03° 19’ 32”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 10	08h 11m 17s	+03° 19’ 54”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 11	08h 11m 18s	+03° 20’ 16”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 12	08h 11m 20s	+03° 20’ 37”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 13	08h 11m 23s	+03° 20’ 58”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 14	08h 11m 25s	+03° 21’ 18”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 15	08h 11m 27s	+03° 21’ 37”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 16	08h 11m 29s	+03° 21’ 56”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 17	08h 11m 32s	+03° 22’ 13”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 18	08h 11m 34s	+03° 22’ 31”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 19	08h 11m 37s	+03° 22’ 49”	25.61	Canis Minoris
2025 May 20	08h 11m 40s	+03° 23’ 06”	25.62	Canis Minoris
2025 May 21	08h 11m 43s	+03° 23’ 22”	25.62	Canis Minoris

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) for any date and time between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499 and display the results on an interactive star map.