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Comet

Hale-Bopp

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C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)

Hale-Bopp is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.89 AU to 353.98 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 2,363.5 years; it is about 60 km across. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 August 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
51.227 AU
True anomaly
165.97°
Distance from Earth
51.388 AU
As of
24 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Hale-Bopp — 51.227 AU from the Sun Hale-Bopp
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hale-Bopp is 51.388 AU from Earth today (7.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 32m 07s
Declination
-84° 56′ 29″
Constellation
Octans
Distance from Earth
51.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
79.79° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
177.433 AU
Eccentricity
0.995
Inclination
89.29°
Orbital period
2,363.5 years
Perihelion
0.891 AU
Aphelion
353.976 AU
Longitude of ascending node
282.73°
Argument of periapsis
130.41°
Epoch · J2000
2459837.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 34.2 LD
0.0878 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.044

Orbit quality

Observations used
66
Data arc
29.2 years
First observed
27 April 1993
Last observed
9 July 2022
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
1 August 2022

Physical properties

Mean radius
30 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.04
Absolute magnitude (H)
4.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4
4.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1995 O1

Named

Sources