Comet 104P/Kowal 2

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 19h 55m 40s and the Declination is -16° 14’ 29” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 25.43 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 104P/Kowal 2 [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet 104P/Kowal 2 available on TheSkyLive:

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?)
• Rise and set times (see also 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 673,941,580 kilometers, equivalent to 4.505021 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37 minutes and 28.0271 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 January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 to Earth happens on Sun Jan 2 2061 at a distance of 0.087653 Astronomical Units, or 13,112,729 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 25.43.

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.

Comet 104P/Kowal 2 rise and set times

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

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

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
2021 Jan 14	19h 45m 50s	-16° 40’ 38”	25.54	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 15	19h 47m 03s	-16° 37’ 31”	25.53	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 16	19h 48m 19s	-16° 34’ 21”	25.51	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 17	19h 49m 32s	-16° 31’ 06”	25.50	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 18	19h 50m 48s	-16° 27’ 50”	25.49	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 19	19h 52m 02s	-16° 24’ 29”	25.47	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 20	19h 53m 17s	-16° 21’ 06”	25.46	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 21	19h 54m 32s	-16° 17’ 39”	25.44	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 22	19h 55m 46s	-16° 14’ 09”	25.43	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 23	19h 57m 02s	-16° 10’ 36”	25.41	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 24	19h 58m 18s	-16° 07’ 00”	25.40	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 25	19h 59m 32s	-16° 03’ 21”	25.38	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 26	20h 00m 48s	-15° 59’ 39”	25.37	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 27	20h 02m 03s	-15° 55’ 54”	25.35	Sagittarius