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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:48  ☀️ Transit: 13:04  🌅 Sunset: 19:21

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).

15h 12m 54s
-16° 15’ 50”
Libra
24.81

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):

Azimuth: 106.2°
Max altitude: 22.2°
Azimuth: 253.7°
  • 104P/Kowal 2 is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, 104P/Kowal 2 is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Available Resources

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 104P/Kowal 2 finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in Libra on March, 27 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in Libra on March, 27 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

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.

104P/Kowal 2
RA: 15h 12m 54s
Dec: -16° 15’ 50”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 104P/Kowal 2
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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.

478,160,079
3.196303
26 minutes and 34.9703 seconds

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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:

Tue Jan 11 2050
15,506,266
0.103653

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.

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 as a function of time

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 at epoch 25 September 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459483.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.66545590
Orbit inclination i 5.70106710°
Perihelion distance q 1.07309960 AU
160,533,416 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.34219568 AU
799,181,101 km
Semi-major axis a 3.20764764 AU
479,857,259 km
Orbital period period 5.7450 years
2,098.3523 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Jan-11 14:48:40
2,459,591.1171 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Oct-10 23:16
2,461,689.4695 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 227.24546096775°
Longitude of the ascending node node 207.21370218005°
Mean anomaly M 341.53686215439°
Mean motion n 0.17156318°/day

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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 104P/Kowal 2
View Comet 104P/Kowal 2 in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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