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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
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Comets » 

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke

Altitude: -11.7°   Azimuth: 318.8°   Direction: North-West

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is a short-period comet with an orbital period of 6.3 years. It was first discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on 12 June 1819 and rediscovered later by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke on 9 March 1858. The comet has a perihelion distance of about 1.2 astronomical units and an aphelion distance of about 5.6 astronomical units.

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is currently in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 860,521,955 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Taurus on March,19 2024
Map showing Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Taurus on March, 19 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is 04h 41m 55s and the Declination is +17° 27’ 24” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is 23.14 (JPL).

04h 41m 55s
+17° 27’ 24”
Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.14

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.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 72.5°
Max altitude: 56.0°
Azimuth: 287.5°
  • 7P/Pons-Winnecke is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Given its current magnitude, 7P/Pons-Winnecke 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.

Additional Resources

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Map showing Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Taurus on March, 19 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

7P/Pons-Winnecke
RA: 04h 41m 55s
Dec: +17° 27’ 24”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke from Earth is currently 860,521,955 kilometers, equivalent to 5.752234 Astronomical Units. Light takes 47 minutes and 50.3923 seconds to travel from Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke and arrive to us.

860,521,955
5.752234
47 minutes and 50.3923 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke 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 7P/Pons-Winnecke 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 7P/Pons-Winnecke from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke to Earth happens on Mon Jun 27 1927 at a distance of 0.039404 Astronomical Units, or 5,894,775 kilometers:

Mon Jun 27 1927
5,894,775
0.039404

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

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, 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 7P/Pons-Winnecke as a function of time

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke at epoch 24 April 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457137.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.63757124
Orbit inclination i 22.33463826°
Perihelion distance q 1.23919869 AU
185,381,486 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.59910354 AU
837,613,969 km
Semi-major axis a 3.41915111 AU
511,497,727 km
Orbital period period 6.3225 years
2,309.2761 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2015-Jan-30 12:39:34
2,457,053.0275 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-May-27 19:17
2,459,362.3036 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 172.50553360981°
Longitude of the ascending node node 93.415610189417°
Mean anomaly M 13.168673787644°
Mean motion n 0.15589301°/day

Visualization of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke 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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
View Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Mar 12 04h 39m 38s +17° 10’ 01” 23.10 Taurus
2024 Mar 13 04h 39m 56s +17° 12’ 28” 23.10 Taurus
2024 Mar 14 04h 40m 14s +17° 14’ 54” 23.11 Taurus
2024 Mar 15 04h 40m 32s +17° 17’ 22” 23.12 Taurus
2024 Mar 16 04h 40m 51s +17° 19’ 50” 23.13 Taurus
2024 Mar 17 04h 41m 12s +17° 22’ 18” 23.13 Taurus
2024 Mar 18 04h 41m 32s +17° 24’ 45” 23.14 Taurus
2024 Mar 19 04h 41m 53s +17° 27’ 12” 23.14 Taurus
2024 Mar 20 04h 42m 15s +17° 29’ 40” 23.15 Taurus
2024 Mar 21 04h 42m 38s +17° 32’ 09” 23.16 Taurus
2024 Mar 22 04h 43m 00s +17° 34’ 37” 23.16 Taurus
2024 Mar 23 04h 43m 23s +17° 37’ 05” 23.17 Taurus
2024 Mar 24 04h 43m 48s +17° 39’ 33” 23.18 Taurus
2024 Mar 25 04h 44m 12s +17° 42’ 02” 23.18 Taurus