Halley's Comet: when it returns in 2061, and where it is now

Halley's Comet will next pass closest to the Sun on 28 July 2061, according to our calculation with NASA's JPL orbit for the comet. It last did so on 9 February 1986. Halley takes about 76 years to go around the Sun, so most people get one chance to see it. Right now it is about as far from the Sun as it ever gets, beyond the orbit of Neptune, and on its way back. The quick facts:

(1 AU, an astronomical unit, is the average distance from Earth to the Sun: about 150 million km.)

When will Halley's Comet return?

In 2061. NASA says the comet "will return in 2061". Using JPL's orbit for Halley, we find that it passes closest to the Sun on 28 July 2061, about 0.59 AU from the Sun, and closest to Earth on 29 July 2061, about 71.5 million km (44.4 million miles) away. That is 75.5 years after the 1986 passage. JPL's orbit includes the small push from the comet's own gas jets, and these predictions may be revised as the orbit is updated.

For the Northern Hemisphere, 2061 may be better than 1986. In 1986, during its modeled bright period, Halley was low in the southern sky: around its closest approach to Earth, on 10 April 1986, it stood so far south that from New York it could rise at most about 2 degrees above the horizon (our calculation). In 2061 the comet is far north in the sky during its modeled bright period. From New York it climbs about 26 degrees above the northeastern horizon at dawn in mid-July, and it is about 13 degrees up in the west at dusk in early August (our calculation; "dawn" and "dusk" here mean the Sun 12 degrees below the horizon).

How bright will it be? Astronomers measure brightness in magnitudes, where lower numbers mean brighter objects; magnitude 6 is about the faintest star you can see with your eyes under a dark sky. JPL's simple brightness model puts Halley at magnitude 6 or brighter from about late June to late August 2061. If we also require the comet to be at least 30 degrees from the Sun in the sky (our own cut-off for a reasonably dark view), about 11 days around perihelion drop out. A comet's light is spread out, so it is harder to see than a star of the same magnitude, and comets often turn out brighter or fainter than such models predict. Treat all of this as a rough guide; from New York, the best chances look like mid-July before dawn and early August after dusk.

Where is Halley's Comet now?

On 23 October 2026, Halley was 35.01 AU from the Sun, about 5.24 billion km (3.25 billion miles), and 35.13 AU from Earth, about 5.25 billion km (3.27 billion miles), in the direction of the constellation Hydra (JPL Horizons). Light from it takes about 4.9 hours to reach Earth.

It reached its farthest point from the Sun, called aphelion, on 8 December 2023, at 35.14 AU (our calculation). There it moved at only 0.91 km per second. NASA says this point lies "beyond the orbit of Neptune". Since then Halley has been falling back towards the Sun, slowly at first and then faster and faster.

Can you see it now? Not with your eyes or a normal backyard telescope. JPL's brightness model gives it magnitude 26 today, tens of millions of times fainter than the faintest stars you can see with your eyes (our calculation from the magnitude scale). Giant professional telescopes can still pick it up: in 2003 the European Southern Observatory photographed Halley with its Very Large Telescope at 28.06 AU from the Sun, with a brightness of magnitude 28.2.

Halley's long orbit around the Sun

Halley's orbit is a long, thin oval. At one end it swings inside the orbit of Venus, about 0.59 AU from the Sun; at the other it reaches about 35.14 AU, beyond Neptune. Its orbit is tilted by 162 degrees, which means the comet travels around the Sun the opposite way to the planets (JPL Small-Body Database).

Like all comets, Halley moves fastest near the Sun and slowest far away. In our animation, time runs slowly around the two perihelion passages and fast in between, so you can follow both the quick swing past the Sun and the long, slow journey out to the cold edge of the planetary system.

Could Halley hit Earth? In 2061 it stays about 71.5 million km from Earth (our calculation with JPL's orbit). JPL's Small-Body Database also gives a separate number: the paths of the two orbits come no closer than about 11.1 million km (6.9 million miles). That is the gap between the orbits themselves, not a distance the comet and Earth reach on a particular date. On 20 May 1910 the comet came within about 22.6 million km of Earth (our calculation).

Every return since 240 BC

The comet is named after the astronomer Edmond Halley. NASA explains that in 1705 he used Newton's laws to show that the bright comets of 1531, 1607 and 1682 were one and the same, and "Halley correctly predicted the comet would return in 1758." It was first seen again on 25 December 1758, by Johann Georg Palitzsch (JPL Small-Body Database).

JPL's Horizons system has a separate orbit for each of 30 returns, going back to 240 BC. For each one we found the moment the comet came closest to the Sun, and from those dates the time between returns: on average 76.7 years, but anywhere from 74.42 to 79.25 years, because the pull of the planets changes each orbit a little. NASA gives the same range of 74.42 to 79.25 years. The most recent perihelion passages (our calculation from JPL's orbit records; dates before 1582 would be in the old Julian calendar):

The comet also appears in history: NASA notes it is shown on the Bayeux Tapestry, which "chronicles the Battle of Hastings in 1066".

1910: Earth passes through the tail, and Mark Twain

In May 1910 Halley's Comet came very close. Early on 19 May 1910, at about 04:10 UT, it passed almost exactly between the Sun and Earth: seen from Earth's centre it was only 0.05 degrees from the centre of the Sun, in front of the Sun's disk (our calculation with JPL Horizons). A comet's tail points away from the Sun, so the tail pointed towards us; tails can also curve, so our diagram only illustrates the direction. The Science History Institute describes how people learned that "Earth would be passing through the comet's tail in mid-May", how the astronomer Camille Flammarion suggested the gas could "possibly snuff out all life on the planet", and how "Snake-oil salesmen peddled "comet pills"". The feared poisoning of Earth's atmosphere did not happen.

The writer Mark Twain was born on 30 November 1835, two weeks after Halley's perihelion of 16 November 1835. In 1909 he told his biographer Albert Bigelow Paine: "I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it." He died on 21 April 1910, the day after the comet's perihelion of 20 April 1910 (Paine, 1912).

What we learned in 1986

In 1986 a group of spacecraft visited Halley. NASA lists the European spacecraft Giotto, which photographed Halley's nucleus "as it receded from the Sun", and the Vega 1 and 2 spacecraft, "repurposed after a successful Venus mission".

The pictures showed that the nucleus, the solid heart of the comet, is a dark, lumpy body. NASA gives its size as "about 9.3 by 5 miles (15 kilometers by 8 kilometers)". As it nears the Sun, ice in the nucleus turns into gas and carries dust with it. That forms the glowing head and the tail.

Halley's meteor showers: the Orionids and Eta Aquariids

You can see pieces of Halley's Comet every year. Each time it passes the Sun, it leaves a trail of dust along its orbit. When Earth crosses that trail, the dust burns up in our atmosphere as meteors. NASA says this debris causes "the Eta Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October".

The Orionids peak around 21 October and seem to come from a point near Betelgeuse in Orion. Our Orionid meteor shower article has the times and the best viewing tips.

Halley's Comet FAQ

When will Halley's Comet be seen again? In 2061. It passes closest to the Sun on 28 July 2061 and closest to Earth on 29 July 2061 (JPL orbit, our calculation). From New York, the best chances look like mid-July 2061 before dawn and early August after dusk (our calculation).

When was Halley's last appearance in the inner solar system? In 1985 and 1986, with perihelion on 9 February 1986 (NASA). It has been photographed since that return, including by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in 2003.

Will Halley's Comet be visible in 2026? Not with your eyes or a normal backyard telescope. In October 2026 it is about 35.01 AU from the Sun and extremely faint.

Where is Halley's Comet right now? About 5.24 billion km from the Sun and 5.25 billion km (3.27 billion miles) from Earth on 23 October 2026, beyond Neptune's orbit, in the direction of Hydra. It passed its farthest point on 8 December 2023 and is now heading back.

What year will Halley's Comet hit Earth? The calculated 2061 passage stays about 71.5 million km from Earth (our calculation with JPL's orbit).

Did Mark Twain see Halley's Comet twice? His birth and death coincided with the 1835 and 1910 returns: he was born on 30 November 1835 and died on 21 April 1910, the day after the comet's perihelion (Paine, 1912). The biography does not establish that he saw the comet himself both times.

What happened in 1910? Earth passed close to the comet and its tail in mid-May. Some people panicked and "comet pills" were sold, but the feared poisoning of the atmosphere did not happen (Science History Institute).

What happens every 75 or 76 years? Halley's Comet returns to the inner solar system. The time between returns ranges from about 74 to 79 years.

How big is Halley's Comet? Its solid nucleus is about 15 by 8 km (NASA). The glowing head and tail around it are far larger.

Can I see it with a telescope now? Not with a normal backyard telescope: JPL's model gives it magnitude 26. You can check its position in a planetarium app such as Stellarium Web.

How we checked

Dates, distances and sky positions are our calculations from NASA's JPL Horizons system and Small-Body Database, retrieved on 23 October 2026: the perihelion times of JPL's 30 orbit records for Halley, and JPL's latest orbit (solution JPL#75) for 1986, today and 2061. Heights in the sky from New York are calculated with the Astronomy Engine library; the sky view was simulated in Stellarium and checked against it. NASA facts and photos, Paine's 1912 biography of Mark Twain and the Science History Institute are listed under Sources. We checked all sources on 23 October 2026.

Brightness numbers come from JPL's simple comet model and are only rough. The animation and diagrams use the same JPL data; tails and planet orbit circles are drawn by us. None of the images or videos is AI-generated.