Comet 81P/Wild 2

Comet 81P/Wild 2 is currently in the constellation of Pisces. The current Right Ascension of Comet 81P/Wild 2 is 00h 59m 52s and the Declination is +03° 14’ 27” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild 2 is 22.00 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 81P/Wild 2 [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet 81P/Wild 2 available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 81P/Wild 2?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 81P/Wild 2 from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 81P/Wild 2 rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 81P/Wild 2?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 81P/Wild 2 orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 81P/Wild 2 with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild 2 for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 81P/Wild 2 in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 81P/Wild 2 with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 81P/Wild 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 81P/Wild 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 81P/Wild 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 81P/Wild 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 81P/Wild 2 from Earth is currently 728,260,697 kilometers, equivalent to 4.868122 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40 minutes and 29.2162 seconds to travel from Comet 81P/Wild 2 and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 81P/Wild 2 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.

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 81P/Wild 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 81P/Wild 2 to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 81P/Wild 2 to Earth happens on Sun Apr 6 2042 at a distance of 0.657589 Astronomical Units, or 98,373,984 kilometers:

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

Comet 81P/Wild 2 brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild 2 is 22.00.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 81P/Wild 2, 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.

Comet 81P/Wild 2 rise and set times

Today's Comet 81P/Wild 2 rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 81P/Wild 2 touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 81P/Wild 2 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 81P/Wild 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 81P/Wild 2 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!

Comet 81P/Wild 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 81P/Wild 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 81P/Wild 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Jan 17	00h 56m 45s	+02° 51’ 02”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 18	00h 57m 09s	+02° 54’ 01”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 19	00h 57m 33s	+02° 57’ 02”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 20	00h 57m 56s	+03° 00’ 07”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 21	00h 58m 22s	+03° 03’ 18”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 22	00h 58m 47s	+03° 06’ 29”	21.99	Pisces
2021 Jan 23	00h 59m 13s	+03° 09’ 47”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 24	00h 59m 40s	+03° 13’ 05”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 25	01h 00m 07s	+03° 16’ 28”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 26	01h 00m 37s	+03° 19’ 54”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 27	01h 01m 05s	+03° 23’ 25”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 28	01h 01m 35s	+03° 26’ 57”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 29	01h 02m 04s	+03° 30’ 33”	22.00	Pisces
2021 Jan 30	01h 02m 35s	+03° 34’ 13”	22.00	Pisces