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Comets » 

Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -27.61°   Az: 146.33°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) is in the constellation of Lupus, at a distance of 3,483,620,068.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 14h 33m 30s and the Declination is -55° 16’ 16” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) is 29.30 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) in Lupus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) in Lupus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

20D/Westphal (Lost)
RA: 14h 31m 43s
Dec: -55° 09’ 40”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

14h 33m 30s
-55° 16’ 16”
20h 01m 40s
10h 35m 11s

J2000

14h 31m 43s
-55° 09’ 40”

Additional Information

Lupus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
29.30

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 20D/Westphal (Lost) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) is not visible from Greenwich, UK

  • 20D/Westphal (Lost) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 20D/Westphal (Lost) 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 20D/Westphal (Lost) from Earth is currently 3,483,620,068.0 kilometers, equivalent to 23.2865618454 Astronomical Units. Light takes 3h 13m 40.106s to travel from Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) and arrive to us.

3,483,620,068.0
23.2865618454
3h 13m 40.106s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) 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 20D/Westphal (Lost) 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 20D/Westphal (Lost) 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 20D/Westphal (Lost) to Earth happens on Wed Apr 18 2096 at a distance of 2.068993 Astronomical Units, or 309,516,955 kilometers:

Wed Apr 18 2096
309,516,955
2.068993

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 20D/Westphal (Lost), 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 20D/Westphal (Lost) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) at epoch 01 January 1970 00:00 UTC (JD: 2420080.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.91983119
Orbit inclination i 40.89006106°
Perihelion distance q 1.25401276 AU
187,597,639 km
Aphelion distance Q 30.03029210 AU
4,492,467,764 km
Semi-major axis a 15.64215243 AU
2,340,032,701 km
Orbital period period 61.8661 years
22,596.6052 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1913-Nov-26 18:57:58
2,420,098.2903 JD
Next perihelion transit 1975-Oct-09 09:29
2,442,694.8954 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 57.08095497142°
Longitude of the ascending node node 348.00644693114°
Mean anomaly M 359.71657281861°
Mean motion n 0.01593160°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost)
View Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 20D/Westphal (Lost) 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 04 14h 33m 38s -55° 04’ 32” 29.32 Lupus
2025 Feb 05 14h 33m 38s -55° 06’ 14” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 06 14h 33m 37s -55° 07’ 56” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 07 14h 33m 36s -55° 09’ 36” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 08 14h 33m 36s -55° 11’ 16” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 09 14h 33m 35s -55° 12’ 56” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 10 14h 33m 33s -55° 14’ 34” 29.31 Lupus
2025 Feb 11 14h 33m 31s -55° 16’ 12” 29.30 Lupus
2025 Feb 12 14h 33m 28s -55° 17’ 49” 29.30 Lupus
2025 Feb 13 14h 33m 25s -55° 19’ 25” 29.30 Lupus
2025 Feb 14 14h 33m 22s -55° 21’ 00” 29.30 Lupus
2025 Feb 15 14h 33m 19s -55° 22’ 34” 29.30 Lupus
2025 Feb 16 14h 33m 15s -55° 24’ 07” 29.29 Lupus
2025 Feb 17 14h 33m 11s -55° 25’ 39” 29.29 Lupus

Additional Resources