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Comets » 

Comet 185P/Petriew

Above the horizon.  Rise: 16:28 | Tran: 21:42 | Set: 3:01
Alt: 27.29°   Az: 203.77°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 185P/Petriew is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 621,056,566.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 41m 52s and the Declination is -08° 30’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 185P/Petriew is 23.75 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 185P/Petriew in Virgo on May, 21 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 185P/Petriew in Virgo on May, 21 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 185P/Petriew is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

185P/Petriew
RA: 12h 40m 33s
Dec: -08° 21’ 40”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 185P/Petriew. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 185P/Petriew?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 185P/Petriew in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 41m 52s
-08° 30’ 01”
01h 24m 56s
14h 06m 48s

J2000

12h 40m 33s
-08° 21’ 40”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.75

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 185P/Petriew from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 98.5°
Max altitude: 30.0°
Azimuth: 261.4°
  • 185P/Petriew is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 27.29° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 185P/Petriew 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 185P/Petriew from Earth is currently 621,056,566.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.1515067233 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34m 31.622s to travel from Comet 185P/Petriew and arrive to us.

621,056,566.0
4.1515067233
34m 31.622s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 185P/Petriew 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 185P/Petriew 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 185P/Petriew 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 185P/Petriew to Earth happens on Tue Nov 7 2056 at a distance of 0.281519 Astronomical Units, or 42,114,589 kilometers:

Tue Nov 7 2056
42,114,589
0.281519

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 185P/Petriew, 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 185P/Petriew as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 185P/Petriew at epoch 16 April 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457129.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.69879499
Orbit inclination i 13.99731602°
Perihelion distance q 0.93383716 AU
139,700,051 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.26683770 AU
787,907,707 km
Semi-major axis a 3.10033743 AU
463,803,879 km
Orbital period period 5.4591 years
1,993.9390 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2012-Aug-13 01:18:02
2,456,152.5542 JD
Next perihelion transit 2018-Jan-27 23:50
2,458,146.4932 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 181.93755768907°
Longitude of the ascending node node 214.10082223653°
Mean anomaly M 176.38477656117°
Mean motion n 0.18054715°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 185P/Petriew
View Comet 185P/Petriew in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 185P/Petriew 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 14 12h 44m 46s -09° 01’ 11” 23.68 Virgo
2025 May 15 12h 44m 21s -08° 56’ 59” 23.69 Virgo
2025 May 16 12h 43m 57s -08° 52’ 51” 23.70 Virgo
2025 May 17 12h 43m 34s -08° 48’ 48” 23.70 Virgo
2025 May 18 12h 43m 11s -08° 44’ 49” 23.71 Virgo
2025 May 19 12h 42m 50s -08° 40’ 56” 23.72 Virgo
2025 May 20 12h 42m 29s -08° 37’ 07” 23.73 Virgo
2025 May 21 12h 42m 09s -08° 33’ 23” 23.74 Virgo
2025 May 22 12h 41m 50s -08° 29’ 44” 23.75 Virgo
2025 May 23 12h 41m 32s -08° 26’ 10” 23.76 Virgo
2025 May 24 12h 41m 15s -08° 22’ 41” 23.77 Virgo
2025 May 25 12h 40m 58s -08° 19’ 17” 23.78 Virgo
2025 May 26 12h 40m 42s -08° 15’ 58” 23.79 Virgo
2025 May 27 12h 40m 27s -08° 12’ 45” 23.80 Virgo

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