Comet 116P/Wild 4
Comet 116P/Wild 4 Position
Comet 116P/Wild 4 is currently in the constellation of Aries. The current Right Ascension is 02h 12m 58s and the Declination is +14° 30’ 07”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 116P/Wild 4 is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 116P/Wild 4 is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 116P/Wild 4?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 116P/Wild 4 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 116P/Wild 4 Distance
The distance of Comet 116P/Wild 4 from Earth is currently 801,161,964 kilometers, equivalent to 5.355437 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44 minutes and 32.3887 seconds to travel from Comet 116P/Wild 4 and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 116P/Wild 4 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 116P/Wild 4 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 116P/Wild 4 to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 116P/Wild 4 to Earth happens on Tue May 22 2085 at a distance of 0.76095312 Astronomical Units, or 113,836,967 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 116P/Wild 4 brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 116P/Wild 4 is 23.38.
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 116P/Wild 4, 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 116P/Wild 4 rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 116P/Wild 4 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 116P/Wild 4 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.
Comet 116P/Wild 4 Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 116P/Wild 4 at epoch 13 February 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457432.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.37239332 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 3.60791149° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.18709943 AU 327,185,418 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.78255050 AU 715,459,373 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.48482496 AU 521,322,395 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.5100 years 2,376.1283 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Jan-11 13:00:42 2,457,399.0422 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2022-Jul-14 16:05 2,459,775.1704 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 173.31491372023° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 20.992465715482° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 5.0690955215247° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.15150697°/day |
Visualization of Comet 116P/Wild 4 Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 116P/Wild 4 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 116P/Wild 4 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!
View Comet 116P/Wild 4 in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 116P/Wild 4 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 116P/Wild 4 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 116P/Wild 4 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 22 | 02h 06m 15s | +13° 54’ 01” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 23 | 02h 07m 06s | +13° 58’ 42” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 24 | 02h 07m 59s | +14° 03’ 25” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 02h 08m 52s | +14° 08’ 09” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 02h 09m 45s | +14° 12’ 55” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 02h 10m 37s | +14° 17’ 39” | 23.39 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 02h 11m 30s | +14° 22’ 24” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 02h 12m 24s | +14° 27’ 11” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 02h 13m 18s | +14° 31’ 58” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 02h 14m 12s | +14° 36’ 46” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 02h 15m 07s | +14° 41’ 33” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 02h 16m 01s | +14° 46’ 21” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 02h 16m 57s | +14° 51’ 10” | 23.38 | Aries |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 02h 17m 52s | +14° 55’ 58” | 23.38 | Aries |