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public  Nancheng, China Nancheng, China  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:03 
Transit: 12:20 
Sunset: 19:37
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Comets » 

Comet 104P/Kowal

Above the horizon.  Rise: 17:42 | Tran: 22:46 | Set: 3:50
Alt: 11.21°   Az: 121.81°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 104P/Kowal is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 631,877,241.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 21m 47s and the Declination is -17° 14’ 05” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 104P/Kowal, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 26.83).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 104P/Kowal in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 104P/Kowal in the constellation of Ophiuchus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 104P/Kowal in the constellation of Ophiuchus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 104P/Kowal against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

104P/Kowal
RA: 17h 20m 18s
Dec: -17° 12’ 38”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 104P/Kowal. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 21m 47s
-17° 14’ 05”
19h 56m 51s
13h 18m 38s

J2000

17h 20m 18s
-17° 12’ 38”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
26.83

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 104P/Kowal from Nancheng, China (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 107.2°
Max altitude: 35.8°
Azimuth: 252.8°

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 631,877,241.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.2238384680 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35m 7.716s to travel from comet 104P/Kowal and arrive to us.

631,877,241.0
4.2238384680
35m 7.716s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 104P/Kowal from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 104P/Kowal from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 104P/Kowal from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 104P/Kowal to Earth will happen on Tuesday 11 January 2050 at a distance of 0.102871 Astronomical Units, or 15,389,324 kilometers:

Tuesday 11 January 2050
15,389,324
0.102871

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 104P/Kowal, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 September, 28 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 January 11, 2022
2,459,591.1175 JD
Next perihelion transit October 10, 2027
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

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 104P/Kowal relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 27 2025 17h 26m 47s -17° 17’ 05” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jun 28 2025 17h 26m 06s -17° 16’ 37” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jun 29 2025 17h 25m 24s -17° 16’ 10” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jun 30 2025 17h 24m 43s -17° 15’ 45” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 01 2025 17h 24m 03s -17° 15’ 20” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 02 2025 17h 23m 23s -17° 14’ 57” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 03 2025 17h 22m 43s -17° 14’ 34” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 04 2025 17h 22m 04s -17° 14’ 14” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 05 2025 17h 21m 25s -17° 13’ 53” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 06 2025 17h 20m 47s -17° 13’ 35” 26.83 Ophiuchus
Jul 07 2025 17h 20m 09s -17° 13’ 18” 26.84 Ophiuchus
Jul 08 2025 17h 19m 31s -17° 13’ 01” 26.84 Ophiuchus
Jul 09 2025 17h 18m 55s -17° 12’ 47” 26.84 Ophiuchus
Jul 10 2025 17h 18m 18s -17° 12’ 34” 26.84 Ophiuchus

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