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Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke

Above the horizon.  Rise: 19:13 | Tran: 3:17 | Set: 11:17
Alt: 53.77°   Az: 226.25°   Direction: South-West

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of 726,277,564.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 40m 35s and the Declination is +22° 07’ 08” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is 22.78 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Gemini on November,11 2024
Map showing Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Gemini on November, 11 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 40m 35s
+22° 07’ 08”
01h 49m 46s
08h 30m 21s

J2000

06h 39m 05s
+22° 08’ 34”

Additional Information

Gemini
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.78

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 7P/Pons-Winnecke from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 67.9°
Max altitude: 60.6°
Azimuth: 292.1°
  • 7P/Pons-Winnecke is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-West direction at an altitude of 53.77° above the horizon.
  • 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.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Sky map showing Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke in Gemini on November, 11 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 06h 39m 05s
Dec: +22° 08’ 34”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke from Earth is currently 726,277,564.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.8548656515 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 22.601s to travel from Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke and arrive to us.

726,277,564.0
4.8548656515
40m 22.601s

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

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.

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

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

Orbit Visualization

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

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Nov 04 06h 42m 49s +21° 57’ 37” 22.82 Gemini
2024 Nov 05 06h 42m 33s +21° 58’ 52” 22.82 Gemini
2024 Nov 06 06h 42m 16s +22° 00’ 09” 22.81 Gemini
2024 Nov 07 06h 41m 58s +22° 01’ 26” 22.80 Gemini
2024 Nov 08 06h 41m 40s +22° 02’ 46” 22.80 Gemini
2024 Nov 09 06h 41m 20s +22° 04’ 06” 22.79 Gemini
2024 Nov 10 06h 41m 00s +22° 05’ 27” 22.79 Gemini
2024 Nov 11 06h 40m 39s +22° 06’ 50” 22.78 Gemini
2024 Nov 12 06h 40m 17s +22° 08’ 14” 22.77 Gemini
2024 Nov 13 06h 39m 54s +22° 09’ 39” 22.77 Gemini
2024 Nov 14 06h 39m 31s +22° 11’ 05” 22.76 Gemini
2024 Nov 15 06h 39m 06s +22° 12’ 32” 22.75 Gemini
2024 Nov 16 06h 38m 41s +22° 13’ 59” 22.75 Gemini
2024 Nov 17 06h 38m 15s +22° 15’ 28” 22.74 Gemini

Additional Resources