Comet 104P/Kowal 2

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is currently in the constellation of Libra. The current Right Ascension of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 15h 12m 54s and the Declination is -16° 15’ 50” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 24.81 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 104P/Kowal 2?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 104P/Kowal 2 from Earth?)
• When does Comet 104P/Kowal 2 rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 104P/Kowal 2?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 104P/Kowal 2 orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 104P/Kowal 2 with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 104P/Kowal 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 from Earth is currently 478,160,079 kilometers, equivalent to 3.196303 Astronomical Units. Light takes 26 minutes and 34.9703 seconds to travel from Comet 104P/Kowal 2 and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 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 104P/Kowal 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 to Earth happens on Tue Jan 11 2050 at a distance of 0.103653 Astronomical Units, or 15,506,266 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 24.81.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 104P/Kowal 2, 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.

Visualization of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 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!

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Mar 20	15h 16m 15s	-16° 36’ 03”	24.80	Libra
2023 Mar 21	15h 15m 52s	-16° 33’ 34”	24.80	Libra
2023 Mar 22	15h 15m 28s	-16° 31’ 01”	24.80	Libra
2023 Mar 23	15h 15m 02s	-16° 28’ 23”	24.80	Libra
2023 Mar 24	15h 14m 35s	-16° 25’ 41”	24.81	Libra
2023 Mar 25	15h 14m 08s	-16° 22’ 55”	24.81	Libra
2023 Mar 26	15h 13m 38s	-16° 20’ 04”	24.81	Libra
2023 Mar 27	15h 13m 09s	-16° 17’ 09”	24.81	Libra
2023 Mar 28	15h 12m 38s	-16° 14’ 11”	24.82	Libra
2023 Mar 29	15h 12m 06s	-16° 11’ 08”	24.82	Libra
2023 Mar 30	15h 11m 33s	-16° 08’ 00”	24.82	Libra
2023 Mar 31	15h 10m 59s	-16° 04’ 50”	24.82	Libra
2023 Apr 01	15h 10m 24s	-16° 01’ 35”	24.83	Libra
2023 Apr 02	15h 09m 48s	-15° 58’ 17”	24.83	Libra