THE POSITIONS OF COMET HALE-BOPP
THROUGH 1997

In the Ephemeris Table given below, each column has an abbreviation at the top. The abbreviations stand for:

• DATE---You already know what that is!
• R.A.---Right Ascension
• DEC---Declination
• R (AU)---Comet's distance from the Sun (in astronomical units)
• D---Comet's distance from the Earth (in astronomical units)
• EL---Comet's elongation in degrees
• SKY---"E" means comet is in evening sky, while "M" means it is in morning sky.
• MAG---The comet's magnitude (brightness)

  Click on any abreviation above to find out what it means.

     DATE...... R.A.       DEC      R (AU) D   EL SKY  MAG
    10-15-95   18hl7m    -28.6d    6.43  6.66  72  E  10.2
    11-04-95   18h23m    -27.7d    6.25  6.79  54  E  10.1
    11-24-95   18h31m    -26.8d    6.07  6.85  36  E  10.0
    12-14-95   18h42m    -26.Od    5.89  6.82  18  E   9.9
    01-03-96   18h55m    -25.Od    5.70  6.69   2  E   9.7
    01-23-96   l9hO8m    -24.Od    5.52  6.45  17  E   9.5
    02-12-96   l9h20m    -22.8d    5.33  6.11  34  M   9 2
    03-03-96   l9h32m    -21.6d    5.14  5.69  52  M   8.9
    03-23-96   l9h40m    -20.3d    4.94  5.20  70  M   8.5
    04-12-96   l9h45m    -18.8d    4.74  4.67  88  M   8.1
    05-02-96    l9h44m   -17.3d    4.54  4.14 107  M   7.7
    05-22-96    l9h36m   -15.6d    4.34  3.64 128  M   7.2
    06-11-96    l9hl9m   -13.8d    4.13  3.22 150  M   6.7
    07-01-96    18h55m   -11.8d    3.91  2.91 168  M   6.3
    07-21-96    18h26m   -09.8d    3.70  2.76 154  E   5.9
    08-10-96    18hOOm   -08.ld    3.48  2.74 130  E   5.6
    08-30-96    17h41m   -06.6d    3.25  2.81 107  E   5.4
    09-19-96    17h31m   -05.5d    3.02  2.92  86  E   5.1
    10-09-96    17h31m   -04.5d    2.79  3.01  68  E   4.8
    10-29-96    17h39m   -03.4d    2.55  3.05  51  E   4.5
    11-18-96    17h53m   -01.9d    2.30  3.00  38  E   4.0
    12-08-96    18hl3m   +00.4d    2.05  2.86  29  E  +3.4
    12-28-96    18h38m   +04.Od    1.80  2.61  27  M  +2.6
    01-17-97    l9hllm   +09.6d    1.54  2.28  32  M  +1.7
    02-06-97    l9h56m   +18.3d    1.30  1.90  40  M  +0.6
    02-26-97    21hlOm   +31.4d    1.09  1.53  45  M  -0.6
    03-18-97    23h35m   +44.4d    0.95  1.33  46  M  -1.5
    04-07-97    02h41m   +41.4d    0.93  1.42  41  E  -1.5
    04-27-57    G4h,8m   +28.4d    1.03  1.71  33  E  -0.6
    05-17-97    05h25m   +17.Od    1.23  2.05  26  E  +0.4
    06-06-97    06hO4m   +08.0d    1.46  2.35  22  E  +1.5
    06-26-97    06h36m   +00.3d    1.71  2.59  23  E   2.4
    07-16-97    07hO2m   -07.Od    1.96  2.78  30  M   3.1
    08-05-97    07h26m   -14.3d    2.21  2.91  39  M   3.8
    08-25-97    07h46m   -22.Od    2.46  3.00  49  M   4.3
    09-14-97    08hOlm   -30.ld    2.70  3.07  60  M   4.7
    10-04-97    08hllm   -38.5d    2.94  3.13  70  M   5.2
    10-24-97    08hllm   -46.8d    3.17  3.21  79  M   5.5
    11-13-97    07h59m   -54.4d    3.40  3.32  86  M   5.9
    12-03-97    07h29m   -60.3d    3.62  3.48  91  M   6.3
    12-23-97    06h42m   -63.6d    3.84  3.67  93  M   6.7
    01-12-98    05h54m   -63.8d    4.05  3.89  92  M   7.0
    02-01-98    05hl9m   -61.8d    4.26  4.15  90  M   7.4
    02-21-98    05hO2m   -58.4d    4.47  4.42  87  M   7.7
    03-13-98    05hOOm   -55.6d    4.67  4.69  83  M   8.1

Elongation: the angle made by the comet, the Earth, and the Sun. In other words, the number of degrees of angle that separate the Sun and the comet.

Magnitude: The brightness of an object. The magnitude number increases as the brightness decreases. The dimmest magnitude star that can be seen by someone with good vision is about magnitude 6. Bright stars are magnitude 1 and the brightest stars are magnitude 0 or -1. A bright planet, like Venus can be as bright as -4 magnitude.

(Last Update: 9/26/96 )
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