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public  Llanwinio, United Kingdom Llanwinio, United Kingdom  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:05 
Transit: 13:22 
Sunset: 21:38
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Comets » 

Comet 116P/Wild

Above the horizon.  Rise: 1:15 | Tran: 7:46 | Set: 14:17
Alt: 16.43°   Az: 259.31°   Direction: West

Comet 116P/Wild is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 715,322,718.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 10m 25s and the Declination is +06° 28’ 39” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 116P/Wild, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.68).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 116P/Wild in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 116P/Wild in the constellation of Pisces on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 116P/Wild in the constellation of Pisces 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 116P/Wild 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.

116P/Wild
RA: 01h 09m 05s
Dec: +06° 20’ 32”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 116P/Wild. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 10m 25s
+06° 28’ 39”
04h 46m 11s
05h 56m 36s

J2000

01h 09m 05s
+06° 20’ 32”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.68

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 116P/Wild from Llanwinio, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 83.5°
Max altitude: 44.6°
Azimuth: 276.5°

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 116P/Wild from Earth is currently 715,322,718.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.7816370290 Astronomical Units. Light takes 39m 46.060s to travel from comet 116P/Wild and arrive to us.

715,322,718.0
4.7816370290
39m 46.060s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 116P/Wild 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 116P/Wild 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 116P/Wild 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 116P/Wild to Earth will happen on Saturday 14 April 2085 at a distance of 0.527412 Astronomical Units, or 78,899,663 kilometers:

Saturday 14 April 2085
78,899,663
0.527412

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 116P/Wild, 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 116P/Wild as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 116P/Wild at epoch April, 15 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457494.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.37227703
Orbit inclination i 3.60784374°
Perihelion distance q 2.18708578 AU
327,183,376 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.78122950 AU
715,261,754 km
Semi-major axis a 3.48415764 AU
521,222,565 km
Orbital period period 6.5036 years
2,375.4458 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp January 11, 2016
2,457,399.0261 JD
Next perihelion transit July 13, 2022
2,459,774.4718 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 173.31072730318°
Longitude of the ascending node node 20.991856003706°
Mean anomaly M 14.469123049665°
Mean motion n 0.15155050°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 116P/Wild 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 116P/Wild 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 25 2025 01h 07m 23s +06° 09’ 16” 22.72 Pisces
Jun 26 2025 01h 07m 49s +06° 12’ 03” 22.71 Pisces
Jun 27 2025 01h 08m 15s +06° 14’ 47” 22.70 Pisces
Jun 28 2025 01h 08m 40s +06° 17’ 27” 22.70 Pisces
Jun 29 2025 01h 09m 04s +06° 20’ 04” 22.69 Pisces
Jun 30 2025 01h 09m 28s +06° 22’ 36” 22.69 Pisces
Jul 01 2025 01h 09m 51s +06° 25’ 06” 22.68 Pisces
Jul 02 2025 01h 10m 14s +06° 27’ 31” 22.68 Pisces
Jul 03 2025 01h 10m 36s +06° 29’ 53” 22.67 Pisces
Jul 04 2025 01h 10m 58s +06° 32’ 10” 22.66 Pisces
Jul 05 2025 01h 11m 19s +06° 34’ 24” 22.66 Pisces
Jul 06 2025 01h 11m 39s +06° 36’ 34” 22.65 Pisces
Jul 07 2025 01h 11m 59s +06° 38’ 41” 22.65 Pisces
Jul 08 2025 01h 12m 18s +06° 40’ 42” 22.64 Pisces

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