Comet 15P/Finlay

Comet 15P/Finlay is currently in the constellation of Ophiucus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 15P/Finlay is 17h 38m 54s and the Declination is -27° 43’ 03” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 15P/Finlay is 19.61 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 15P/Finlay [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 15P/Finlay available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 15P/Finlay?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 15P/Finlay from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 15P/Finlay rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 15P/Finlay?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 15P/Finlay orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 15P/Finlay with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 15P/Finlay for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 15P/Finlay in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 15P/Finlay with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 15P/Finlay is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 15P/Finlay?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 15P/Finlay in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 15P/Finlay Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 15P/Finlay from Earth is currently 447,700,306 kilometers, equivalent to 2.992692 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 53.3675 seconds to travel from Comet 15P/Finlay and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 15P/Finlay to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 15P/Finlay to Earth happens on Wed Oct 27 2060 at a distance of 0.049317 Astronomical Units, or 7,377,684 kilometers:

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

Comet 15P/Finlay brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 15P/Finlay is 19.61.

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 15P/Finlay, 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 15P/Finlay rise and set times

Today's Comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 15P/Finlay with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 15P/Finlay in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Jan 17	17h 22m 58s	-27° 23’ 40”	19.92	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 18	17h 25m 05s	-27° 26’ 32”	19.88	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 19	17h 27m 11s	-27° 29’ 21”	19.84	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 20	17h 29m 21s	-27° 32’ 03”	19.80	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 21	17h 31m 28s	-27° 34’ 41”	19.76	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 22	17h 33m 38s	-27° 37’ 13”	19.71	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 23	17h 35m 48s	-27° 39’ 39”	19.67	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 24	17h 37m 59s	-27° 42’ 02”	19.63	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 25	17h 40m 09s	-27° 44’ 17”	19.58	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 26	17h 42m 21s	-27° 46’ 27”	19.54	Ophiucus
2021 Jan 27	17h 44m 34s	-27° 48’ 33”	19.50	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 28	17h 46m 46s	-27° 50’ 31”	19.45	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 29	17h 49m 00s	-27° 52’ 26”	19.41	Sagittarius
2021 Jan 30	17h 51m 15s	-27° 54’ 12”	19.36	Sagittarius