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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:06 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:47
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Comets » 

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 5:55 | Tran: 16:37 | Set: 3:23
Alt: 13.20°   Az: 45.67°   Direction: North-East

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is in the constellation of Auriga, at a distance of 4,589,068,522.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 07h 19m 55s and the Declination is +37° 02’ 14” (apparent coordinates).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) in Auriga on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) in Auriga on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2012 S1 (ISON)
RA: 07h 18m 13s
Dec: +37° 05’ 06”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

07h 19m 55s
+37° 02’ 14”
16h 03m 00s
23h 22m 56s

J2000

07h 18m 13s
+37° 05’ 06”

Additional Information

Auriga
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
-

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/2012 S1 (ISON) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 53.0°
Max altitude: 75.6°
Azimuth: 307.0°
  • C/2012 S1 (ISON) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the North-East direction at an altitude of 13.20° above the horizon.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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/2012 S1 (ISON) from Earth is currently 4,589,068,522.0 kilometers, equivalent to 30.6760283454 Astronomical Units. Light takes 4h 15m 7.485s to travel from Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) and arrive to us.

4,589,068,522.0
30.6760283454
4h 15m 7.485s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) 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/2012 S1 (ISON) 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/2012 S1 (ISON) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) to Earth happens on Fri Dec 27 2013 at a distance of 0.430624 Astronomical Units, or 64,420,498 kilometers:

Fri Dec 27 2013
64,420,498
0.430624

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

Light Curve

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) at epoch 30 April 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456413.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00000510
Orbit inclination i 62.16289398°
Perihelion distance q 0.01246671 AU
1,864,994 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2013-Nov-28 18:20:55
2,456,625.2645 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 345.54119894206°
Longitude of the ascending node node 295.68654180456°
Mean anomaly M -0.00172478090192°
Mean motion n 0.00000814°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)
View Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) 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 10 07h 19m 17s +37° 06’ 18” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 11 07h 19m 22s +37° 05’ 44” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 12 07h 19m 27s +37° 05’ 10” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 13 07h 19m 32s +37° 04’ 37” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 14 07h 19m 38s +37° 04’ 04” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 15 07h 19m 43s +37° 03’ 31” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 16 07h 19m 49s +37° 02’ 57” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 17 07h 19m 54s +37° 02’ 24” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 18 07h 20m 00s +37° 01’ 51” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 19 07h 20m 06s +37° 01’ 18” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 20 07h 20m 13s +37° 00’ 46” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 21 07h 20m 19s +37° 00’ 13” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 22 07h 20m 25s +36° 59’ 41” N.A. Auriga
2025 May 23 07h 20m 32s +36° 59’ 09” N.A. Auriga

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive