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public  Kallíthiro, Grecia Kallíthiro, Grecia  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Athens
Sunrise: 6:11 
Transit: 13:36 
Sunset: 21:01
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Comets » 

Comet 15P/Finlay

Above the horizon.  Rise: 12:52 | Tran: 18:49 | Set: 0:47
Alt: 45.03°   Az: 214.52°   Direction: South-West

Comet 15P/Finlay is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 889,426,642.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 05m 02s and the Declination is -00° 09’ 48” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 15P/Finlay, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 25.29).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 15P/Finlay in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 15P/Finlay in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 15P/Finlay in the constellation of Virgo 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 15P/Finlay 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.

15P/Finlay
RA: 12h 03m 44s
Dec: -00° 01’ 17”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 15P/Finlay. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 05m 02s
-00° 09’ 48”
01h 34m 26s
13h 39m 29s

J2000

12h 03m 44s
-00° 01’ 17”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.29

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 15P/Finlay from Kallíthiro, Grecia (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Athens):

Azimuth: 90.2°
Max altitude: 50.6°
Azimuth: 269.8°

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 15P/Finlay from Earth is currently 889,426,642.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.9454498773 Astronomical Units. Light takes 49m 26.808s to travel from comet 15P/Finlay and arrive to us.

889,426,642.0
5.9454498773
49m 26.808s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay to Earth will happen on Saturday 23 October 2060 at a distance of 0.033494 Astronomical Units, or 5,010,590 kilometers:

Saturday 23 October 2060
5,010,590
0.033494

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 15P/Finlay, 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 15P/Finlay as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 15P/Finlay at epoch October, 31 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457327.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.72018544
Orbit inclination i 6.80048040°
Perihelion distance q 0.97668698 AU
146,110,293 km
Aphelion distance Q 6.00427188 AU
898,226,291 km
Semi-major axis a 3.49047943 AU
522,168,292 km
Orbital period period 6.5213 years
2,381.9139 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp December 27, 2014
2,457,018.5726 JD
Next perihelion transit July 4, 2021
2,459,400.4865 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 347.62574996526°
Longitude of the ascending node node 13.753874751466°
Mean anomaly M 46.690962262876°
Mean motion n 0.15113897°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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 26 2025 12h 03m 33s +00° 02’ 37” 25.25 Virgo
Jun 27 2025 12h 03m 42s +00° 01’ 12” 25.26 Virgo
Jun 28 2025 12h 03m 53s -00° 00’ 15” 25.26 Virgo
Jun 29 2025 12h 04m 04s -00° 01’ 48” 25.27 Virgo
Jun 30 2025 12h 04m 15s -00° 03’ 23” 25.27 Virgo
Jul 01 2025 12h 04m 27s -00° 05’ 02” 25.27 Virgo
Jul 02 2025 12h 04m 39s -00° 06’ 45” 25.28 Virgo
Jul 03 2025 12h 04m 52s -00° 08’ 30” 25.28 Virgo
Jul 04 2025 12h 05m 06s -00° 10’ 18” 25.29 Virgo
Jul 05 2025 12h 05m 20s -00° 12’ 10” 25.29 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 12h 05m 35s -00° 14’ 06” 25.30 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 12h 05m 50s -00° 16’ 05” 25.30 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 12h 06m 05s -00° 18’ 07” 25.30 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 12h 06m 22s -00° 20’ 12” 25.31 Virgo

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