Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:45 
Transit: 13:02 
Sunset: 21:19
warning Set your observing location to get relevant data
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

Below the horizon.  Rise: 9:56 | Tran: 16:40 | Set: 23:23
Alt: -26.66°   Az: 24.27°   Direction: South

Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 1,020,845,235.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 56m 04s and the Declination is +08° 59’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The latest observed magnitude of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann is 14.8 (data provided by COBS).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann in the constellation of Leo 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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.

29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann
RA: 09h 54m 43s
Dec: +09° 07’ 09”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 56m 04s
+08° 59’ 52”
13h 27m 21s
23h 23m 26s

J2000

09h 54m 43s
+09° 07’ 09”

Additional Information

Leo
14.8
1.1'
n/a
2025-06-24
17.86

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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 81.0°
Max altitude: 47.5°
Azimuth: 279.0°

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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann from Earth is currently 1,020,845,235.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.8239289117 Astronomical Units. Light takes 56m 45.173s to travel from comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann and arrive to us.

1,020,845,235.0
6.8239289117
56m 45.173s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann to Earth will happen on Friday 13 October 2034 at a distance of 4.725860 Astronomical Units, or 706,978,663 kilometers:

Friday 13 October 2034
706,978,663
4.725860

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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann at epoch August, 30 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457631.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.04166605
Orbit inclination i 9.37634488°
Perihelion distance q 5.76487038 AU
862,412,335 km
Aphelion distance Q 6.26615567 AU
937,403,547 km
Semi-major axis a 6.01551302 AU
899,907,941 km
Orbital period period 14.7543 years
5,388.9907 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 23, 2019
2,458,566.2488 JD
Next perihelion transit December 23, 2033
2,463,955.2395 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 48.907923433605°
Longitude of the ascending node node 312.40903929554°
Mean anomaly M 297.55610601739°
Mean motion n 0.06680286°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 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 18 2025 09h 52m 26s +09° 20’ 15” 17.83 Leo
Jun 19 2025 09h 52m 56s +09° 17’ 32” 17.84 Leo
Jun 20 2025 09h 53m 25s +09° 14’ 47” 17.84 Leo
Jun 21 2025 09h 53m 55s +09° 12’ 01” 17.84 Leo
Jun 22 2025 09h 54m 25s +09° 09’ 11” 17.85 Leo
Jun 23 2025 09h 54m 56s +09° 06’ 20” 17.85 Leo
Jun 24 2025 09h 55m 27s +09° 03’ 26” 17.86 Leo
Jun 25 2025 09h 55m 58s +09° 00’ 29” 17.86 Leo
Jun 26 2025 09h 56m 30s +08° 57’ 32” 17.87 Leo
Jun 27 2025 09h 57m 02s +08° 54’ 31” 17.87 Leo
Jun 28 2025 09h 57m 34s +08° 51’ 29” 17.87 Leo
Jun 29 2025 09h 58m 06s +08° 48’ 24” 17.88 Leo
Jun 30 2025 09h 58m 39s +08° 45’ 17” 17.88 Leo
Jul 01 2025 09h 59m 12s +08° 42’ 09” 17.89 Leo

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive