Comet Halley (1P/Halley)
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) is currently in the constellation of Canis Minoris, at a distance of 5,245,264,799 kilometers from Earth.
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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.
Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 1P/Halley is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Given its current magnitude, 1P/Halley is visible only through long exposure photography.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher 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.
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.
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) from Earth is currently 5,245,264,799 kilometers, equivalent to 35.062430 Astronomical Units. Light takes 4 hours, 51 minutes and 36.3201 seconds to travel from Comet Halley (1P/Halley) and arrive to us.
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.
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 of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) to Earth
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:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Brightness and 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.
Comet Halley (1P/Halley) 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 |
Visualization of Comet Halley (1P/Halley) Orbit
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) 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Apr 13 | 08h 10m 58s | +03° 05’ 27” | 25.58 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 14 | 08h 10m 56s | +03° 06’ 01” | 25.58 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 15 | 08h 10m 55s | +03° 06’ 33” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 16 | 08h 10m 54s | +03° 07’ 06” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 17 | 08h 10m 54s | +03° 07’ 38” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 18 | 08h 10m 54s | +03° 08’ 09” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 19 | 08h 10m 53s | +03° 08’ 42” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 20 | 08h 10m 53s | +03° 09’ 12” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 21 | 08h 10m 53s | +03° 09’ 42” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 22 | 08h 10m 51s | +03° 10’ 14” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 23 | 08h 10m 51s | +03° 10’ 42” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 24 | 08h 10m 51s | +03° 11’ 12” | 25.59 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 25 | 08h 10m 53s | +03° 11’ 41” | 25.60 | Canis Minoris |
| 2024 Apr 26 | 08h 10m 53s | +03° 12’ 10” | 25.60 | Canis Minoris |