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Comet 14P/Wolf

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:25 | Tran: 8:06 | Set: 13:47
Alt: -26.98°   Az: 302.08°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 14P/Wolf is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 675,353,295.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 37m 18s and the Declination is -03° 26’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 14P/Wolf is 21.65 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 14P/Wolf in Ophiuchus on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 14P/Wolf in Ophiuchus on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 14P/Wolf is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

14P/Wolf
RA: 17h 35m 59s
Dec: -03° 26’ 01”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 14P/Wolf. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 14P/Wolf?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 14P/Wolf in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 37m 18s
-03° 26’ 52”
08h 43m 22s
02h 20m 41s

J2000

17h 35m 59s
-03° 26’ 01”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.65

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

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 14P/Wolf from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 93.5°
Max altitude: 35.0°
Azimuth: 266.5°

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 14P/Wolf from Earth is currently 675,353,295.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.5144579387 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37m 32.736s to travel from Comet 14P/Wolf and arrive to us.

675,353,295.0
4.5144579387
37m 32.736s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 14P/Wolf 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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 14P/Wolf from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 14P/Wolf from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 14P/Wolf to Earth happens on Tue Sep 19 2000 at a distance of 1.523343 Astronomical Units, or 227,888,832 kilometers:

Tue Sep 19 2000
227,888,832
1.523343

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 14P/Wolf, 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 14P/Wolf as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 14P/Wolf at epoch 22 June 2012 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456101.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.35708646
Orbit inclination i 27.94035079°
Perihelion distance q 2.73129326 AU
408,595,657 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.76531817 AU
862,479,324 km
Semi-major axis a 4.24830572 AU
635,537,491 km
Orbital period period 8.7565 years
3,198.3211 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2009-Feb-27 08:04:32
2,454,889.8365 JD
Next perihelion transit 2017-Nov-30 15:46
2,458,088.1576 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 159.23106315173°
Longitude of the ascending node node 202.11380340676°
Mean anomaly M 136.38369718889°
Mean motion n 0.11255905°/day

Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 14P/Wolf 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
2025 Feb 05 17h 30m 18s -04° 00’ 30” 21.72 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 17h 31m 14s -03° 56’ 24” 21.71 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 17h 32m 10s -03° 52’ 14” 21.70 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 08 17h 33m 05s -03° 47’ 58” 21.69 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 09 17h 33m 59s -03° 43’ 38” 21.69 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 10 17h 34m 54s -03° 39’ 12” 21.68 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 11 17h 35m 47s -03° 34’ 42” 21.67 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 12 17h 36m 41s -03° 30’ 08” 21.66 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 13 17h 37m 34s -03° 25’ 28” 21.65 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 14 17h 38m 26s -03° 20’ 43” 21.64 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 15 17h 39m 18s -03° 15’ 53” 21.63 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 16 17h 40m 10s -03° 10’ 58” 21.62 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 17 17h 41m 00s -03° 05’ 58” 21.61 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 18 17h 41m 51s -03° 00’ 54” 21.60 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources