Comet 81P/Wild

Comet 81P/Wild is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius.

The current Right Ascension of Comet 81P/Wild is 19h 12m 27s and the Declination is -21° 29’ 44” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild is 19.16 (JPL).

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 81P/Wild from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

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

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

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

Comet 81P/Wild Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 81P/Wild from Earth is currently 610,900,184 kilometers, equivalent to 4.083616 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33 minutes and 57.7437 seconds to travel from Comet 81P/Wild and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 81P/Wild 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 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 81P/Wild to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 81P/Wild to Earth happens on Sat Apr 5 2042 at a distance of 0.654930 Astronomical Units, or 97,976,142 kilometers:

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

Comet 81P/Wild Brightness and Light Curve

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

Visualization of Comet 81P/Wild Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 81P/Wild with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 81P/Wild 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 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 81P/Wild 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 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Nov 29	19h 01m 54s	-21° 43’ 13”	19.04	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 30	19h 03m 19s	-21° 41’ 35”	19.05	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 01	19h 04m 44s	-21° 39’ 52”	19.07	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 02	19h 06m 08s	-21° 38’ 08”	19.09	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 03	19h 07m 33s	-21° 36’ 20”	19.10	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 04	19h 08m 58s	-21° 34’ 29”	19.12	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 05	19h 10m 23s	-21° 32’ 35”	19.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 06	19h 11m 48s	-21° 30’ 38”	19.15	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 07	19h 13m 13s	-21° 28’ 37”	19.17	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 08	19h 14m 38s	-21° 26’ 34”	19.18	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 09	19h 16m 02s	-21° 24’ 26”	19.20	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 10	19h 17m 27s	-21° 22’ 18”	19.22	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 11	19h 18m 52s	-21° 20’ 04”	19.23	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 12	19h 20m 17s	-21° 17’ 48”	19.25	Sagittarius