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Comets » 

Comet 104P/Kowal

Below the horizon.  Rise: 4:20 | Tran: 8:34 | Set: 12:47
Alt: -48.86°   Az: 308.88°   Direction: North-West

Comet 104P/Kowal is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 877,317,438.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 45m 24s and the Declination is -19° 23’ 40” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal is 27.70 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 104P/Kowal in Sagittarius on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 104P/Kowal in Sagittarius on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

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

104P/Kowal
RA: 17h 43m 55s
Dec: -19° 23’ 07”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 104P/Kowal. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 45m 24s
-19° 23’ 40”
09h 48m 27s
03h 33m 51s

J2000

17h 43m 55s
-19° 23’ 07”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
27.70

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

Rise and Set Times

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

Azimuth: 109.4°
Max altitude: 19.1°
Azimuth: 250.6°
  • 104P/Kowal is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 104P/Kowal 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 104P/Kowal from Earth is currently 877,317,438.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.8645048482 Astronomical Units. Light takes 48m 46.416s to travel from Comet 104P/Kowal and arrive to us.

877,317,438.0
5.8645048482
48m 46.416s

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

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 104P/Kowal to Earth happens on Tue Jan 11 2050 at a distance of 0.102871 Astronomical Units, or 15,389,324 kilometers:

Tue Jan 11 2050
15,389,324
0.102871

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

Light Curve

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 104P/Kowal at epoch 28 September 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459486.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.66545272
Orbit inclination i 5.70109005°
Perihelion distance q 1.07309842 AU
160,533,238 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.34212883 AU
799,171,100 km
Semi-major axis a 3.20761362 AU
479,852,169 km
Orbital period period 5.7449 years
2,098.3189 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Jan-11 14:49:09
2,459,591.1175 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Oct-10 22:28
2,461,689.4364 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 227.24588764598°
Longitude of the ascending node node 207.21352564177°
Mean anomaly M 342.05120779257°
Mean motion n 0.17156591°/day

Orbit Visualization

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

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 104P/Kowal computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Jan 31 17h 40m 20s -19° 26’ 40” 27.74 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 01 17h 41m 01s -19° 26’ 21” 27.74 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 02 17h 41m 41s -19° 26’ 01” 27.73 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 03 17h 42m 20s -19° 25’ 40” 27.73 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 04 17h 42m 59s -19° 25’ 17” 27.72 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 05 17h 43m 38s -19° 24’ 53” 27.72 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 17h 44m 17s -19° 24’ 27” 27.71 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 17h 44m 55s -19° 24’ 01” 27.71 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 08 17h 45m 32s -19° 23’ 34” 27.70 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 09 17h 46m 09s -19° 23’ 04” 27.70 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 10 17h 46m 46s -19° 22’ 34” 27.69 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 11 17h 47m 22s -19° 22’ 02” 27.69 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 12 17h 47m 58s -19° 21’ 29” 27.68 Sagittarius
2025 Feb 13 17h 48m 33s -19° 20’ 55” 27.67 Sagittarius

Additional Resources