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 18h 24m 12s and the Declination is -18° 10’ 41” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 104P/Kowal 2 is 26.20 (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 651,836,836 kilometers, equivalent to 4.357260 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36 minutes and 14.2936 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 26.20.

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
2020 Oct 20	18h 19m 09s	-18° 06’ 03”	26.23	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 21	18h 19m 47s	-18° 06’ 47”	26.22	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 22	18h 20m 26s	-18° 07’ 27”	26.22	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 23	18h 21m 06s	-18° 08’ 07”	26.22	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 24	18h 21m 47s	-18° 08’ 44”	26.21	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 25	18h 22m 28s	-18° 09’ 20”	26.21	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 26	18h 23m 12s	-18° 09’ 55”	26.21	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 27	18h 23m 53s	-18° 10’ 27”	26.20	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 28	18h 24m 38s	-18° 10’ 58”	26.20	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 29	18h 25m 22s	-18° 11’ 26”	26.20	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 30	18h 26m 07s	-18° 11’ 53”	26.19	Sagittarius
2020 Oct 31	18h 26m 52s	-18° 12’ 17”	26.19	Sagittarius
2020 Nov 01	18h 27m 38s	-18° 12’ 41”	26.18	Sagittarius
2020 Nov 02	18h 28m 24s	-18° 13’ 01”	26.18	Sagittarius