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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:13 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:39
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Comet 15P/Finlay

Above the horizon.  Rise: 15:45 | Tran: 21:43 | Set: 3:45
Alt: 31.84°   Az: 141.27°   Direction: South-East

Comet 15P/Finlay is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 780,675,118.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 06m 40s and the Declination is +00° 00’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 15P/Finlay is 25.05 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 15P/Finlay in Virgo on May, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 15P/Finlay in Virgo on May, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

15P/Finlay
RA: 12h 05m 22s
Dec: +00° 08’ 29”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 15P/Finlay. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 06m 40s
+00° 00’ 01”
21h 51m 33s
09h 58m 13s

J2000

12h 05m 22s
+00° 08’ 29”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.05

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 15P/Finlay from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 90.0°
Max altitude: 38.5°
Azimuth: 270.0°
  • 15P/Finlay is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 31.84° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 15P/Finlay is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 780,675,118.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.2184908405 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43m 24.052s to travel from Comet 15P/Finlay and arrive to us.

780,675,118.0
5.2184908405
43m 24.052s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay 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 15P/Finlay to Earth happens on Sat Oct 23 2060 at a distance of 0.033494 Astronomical Units, or 5,010,590 kilometers:

Sat Oct 23 2060
5,010,590
0.033494

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 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.

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 31 October 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 2014-Dec-27 01:44:35
2,457,018.5726 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Jul-04 23:40
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 15P/Finlay
View Comet 15P/Finlay in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 May 05 12h 09m 22s -00° 14’ 06” 25.02 Virgo
2025 May 06 12h 08m 59s -00° 12’ 04” 25.02 Virgo
2025 May 07 12h 08m 37s -00° 10’ 05” 25.02 Virgo
2025 May 08 12h 08m 15s -00° 08’ 12” 25.03 Virgo
2025 May 09 12h 07m 54s -00° 06’ 21” 25.03 Virgo
2025 May 10 12h 07m 34s -00° 04’ 34” 25.04 Virgo
2025 May 11 12h 07m 14s -00° 02’ 51” 25.04 Virgo
2025 May 12 12h 06m 55s -00° 01’ 12” 25.04 Virgo
2025 May 13 12h 06m 36s +00° 00’ 22” 25.05 Virgo
2025 May 14 12h 06m 18s +00° 01’ 53” 25.05 Virgo
2025 May 15 12h 06m 01s +00° 03’ 20” 25.06 Virgo
2025 May 16 12h 05m 44s +00° 04’ 43” 25.06 Virgo
2025 May 17 12h 05m 28s +00° 06’ 02” 25.06 Virgo
2025 May 18 12h 05m 13s +00° 07’ 17” 25.07 Virgo

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