# Where is Halley's Comet now? > Halley's Comet right now: its live distance from the Sun, why it is falling back towards us since December 2023, and the countdown to its return in 2061. HTML: https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/asteroids-and-comets/halleys-comet Numbers as of 2026-11-04 16:50 UTC. Live ones keep changing on the HTML page. Right now Halley's Comet is 5.2 billion kilometres from the Sun, beyond the orbit of Neptune. It passed the farthest point of its orbit on 8 December 2023 and is now falling back towards the Sun. It will be closest to the Sun again on 28 July 2061, when it should once more be visible from Earth. - Time until Halley's Comet is next closest to the Sun: 12685d 00h 09m 53s - Time since Halley's Comet passed its farthest point from the Sun: 2y 331d 8h - Time since Halley's Comet was last closest to the Sun: 40y 268d 5h - Time Halley's Comet takes to go once around the Sun: 76 years ## A ball of ice on a long loop What Halley's Comet is A comet is a lump of ice, dust and rock. Far from the Sun it is dark and quiet. When it comes close, sunlight warms it, and gas and dust stream off to make a glowing head and a long tail. Halley's Comet is the most famous one. It goes round the Sun about every 76 years, so most people get one chance to see it. Its orbit is a long, thin oval, and it runs the opposite way round from the planets. At its closest it comes inside the orbit of Venus. At its farthest it is 35.14 AU from the Sun, about 1.2 times as far out as Neptune. ## Falling back towards us Where it is now For decades after its 1986 visit, Halley climbed slowly away from the Sun. On 8 December 2023 it stopped climbing. That was its farthest point, 1,062 days ago. Since then it has been falling back in. Out there it moves slowly, less than half a kilometre per second towards the Sun. It speeds up the closer it gets. It will spend most of the coming decades far from us, then rush through the inner Solar System in a few months. It is far too faint to see now. Where it is today comes from its orbit, worked out by JPL from thousands of observations made between 1835 and 1994. ## The 1986 visit and Giotto 9 February 1986 Halley was last closest to the Sun on 9 February 1986. Its nearest approach to Earth came later, on the way out, and it was not one of its brighter visits. Space made up for it. A fleet of five spacecraft from Europe, the Soviet Union and Japan flew out to meet it. On 14 March 1986 the European probe Giotto passed within 596 kilometres of the nucleus. It became one of the first spacecraft to photograph the nucleus of a comet, the solid heart hidden inside the glowing head. Dust hit the probe thousands of times, and one grain sent it spinning for a while. It survived. ## Seen for more than two thousand years From the Bayeux Tapestry to Edmond Halley People have written about this comet for more than two thousand years. In 1066 it blazed in the sky before the Battle of Hastings, and it was stitched into the Bayeux Tapestry as an omen. For most of history nobody knew these were all the same comet. Then, in 1705, the English astronomer Edmond Halley used Isaac Newton's new laws of gravity to work out comet orbits. He saw that several comets seen in earlier centuries moved the same way, and predicted it would return in 1758. It did, after he had died. It has carried his name ever since. ## The meteors it leaves behind Twice a year Each time Halley passes the Sun, it sheds dust along its orbit. Earth crosses that trail twice a year. The tiny grains burn up high in our air as shooting stars. In May we get the Eta Aquariids, and in October the Orionids. NASA calls both weak showers. So even now, with Halley far beyond Neptune, a little of it falls into our sky every year. See our meteor showers page for the next one. ## What a person born today will see The return in 2061 Halley will be closest to the Sun on 28 July 2061, in 12,685 days. A child born this year will be in their thirties. JPL's orbit is based on observations up to 1994, so the exact hour may shift, but the year is secure. A lifetime is about 73.3 years on average, and Halley takes about 76 to come round. So most people see it once, if the sky is kind. A few lucky people see it twice, once as a child and once when old. Whoever sees it in 2061 will be looking at the same comet people watched in 1066. ## FAQ ### Where is Halley's Comet right now? It is 5.2 billion kilometres from the Sun, out beyond Neptune's orbit, and slowly falling back towards the Sun. It passed its farthest point on 8 December 2023. ### When will Halley's Comet return? It will be closest to the Sun on 28 July 2061. It should be visible from Earth around then. ### Will Halley's Comet ever be visible again? Yes, in 2061, on its regular trip round the Sun. For now it is far too faint to see. ### When was Halley's Comet last seen? In 1986, when it was closest to the Sun on 9 February. Giotto flew past it on 14 March 1986. ### How often does Halley's Comet come back? About every 76 years. The gap has been between between 74 and 79 years, because the planets, mainly Jupiter, tug on it. ## Related - [Oort cloud](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/the-edge/oort-cloud.md) - [Where does the Solar System end?](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/the-edge/where-does-the-solar-system-end.md) - [Meteor showers](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/earth-and-moon/meteors-and-fireballs/meteor-showers.md) - [Asteroids and comets](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/asteroids-and-comets.md) The comet that frightened people at Hastings is on its way back now. Where do you hope to be when it arrives? ## Sources - Giotto's closest distance from Halley's nucleus (Measured, with error): [ESA: Giotto overview](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Giotto_overview) - Halley's Comet's distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons API, 1P/Halley heliocentric vectors on 2026-11-04](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND='90000030'&CENTER='500@10'&EPHEM_TYPE='VECTORS'&VEC_CORR='NONE'&VEC_TABLE='3'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D'&START_TIME='2026-11-04'&STOP_TIME='2026-11-05'&STEP_SIZE='1d') - Halley's Comet's distance from the Sun at its farthest point in 2023 (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons API, 1P/Halley heliocentric vectors around aphelion, hourly](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND='90000030'&CENTER='500@10'&EPHEM_TYPE='VECTORS'&VEC_CORR='NONE'&VEC_TABLE='3'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D'&START_TIME='2023-12-08'&STOP_TIME='2023-12-10'&STEP_SIZE='1h') - Neptune's average distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html) - Time Halley's Comet takes to go once around the Sun (Measured, with error): [NASA: 1P/Halley](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/1p-halley/) - Time since Halley's Comet passed its farthest point from the Sun (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons API, 1P/Halley heliocentric vectors around aphelion, hourly](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND='90000030'&CENTER='500@10'&EPHEM_TYPE='VECTORS'&VEC_CORR='NONE'&VEC_TABLE='3'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D'&START_TIME='2023-12-08'&STOP_TIME='2023-12-10'&STEP_SIZE='1h') - Time since Halley's Comet was last closest to the Sun (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Small-Body Database API, 1P/Halley orbit (JPL#75)](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.api?sstr=1P&full-prec=1) - Time until Halley's Comet is next closest to the Sun (Measured, with error): [NASA: 1P/Halley](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/1p-halley/) - World average life expectancy at birth in 2024 (Measured, with error): [United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division: World Population Prospects 2024: Summary of Results](https://population.un.org/wpp/assets/Files/WPP2024%5FSummary-of-Results.pdf)