Comet 81P/Wild 2

Comet 81P/Wild 2 is currently in the constellation of Scorpius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 81P/Wild 2 is 16h 07m 00s and the Declination is -17° 42’ 23” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild 2 is 13.03 (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]:

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 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 247,802,517 kilometers, equivalent to 1.656458 Astronomical Units. Light takes 13 minutes and 46.5802 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 0.655057 Astronomical Units, or 97,995,069 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 13.03.

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
2023 Jan 30	15h 48m 06s	-16° 58’ 14”	13.00	Libra
2023 Jan 31	15h 50m 34s	-17° 04’ 28”	13.00	Libra
2023 Feb 01	15h 53m 00s	-17° 10’ 32”	13.00	Libra
2023 Feb 02	15h 55m 27s	-17° 16’ 27”	13.01	Libra
2023 Feb 03	15h 57m 52s	-17° 22’ 09”	13.01	Libra
2023 Feb 04	16h 00m 17s	-17° 27’ 42”	13.02	Libra
2023 Feb 05	16h 02m 42s	-17° 33’ 02”	13.02	Scorpius
2023 Feb 06	16h 05m 03s	-17° 38’ 13”	13.03	Scorpius
2023 Feb 07	16h 07m 26s	-17° 43’ 14”	13.03	Scorpius
2023 Feb 08	16h 09m 47s	-17° 48’ 05”	13.04	Scorpius
2023 Feb 09	16h 12m 06s	-17° 52’ 45”	13.04	Scorpius
2023 Feb 10	16h 14m 26s	-17° 57’ 15”	13.05	Scorpius
2023 Feb 11	16h 16m 44s	-18° 01’ 35”	13.05	Scorpius
2023 Feb 12	16h 19m 00s	-18° 05’ 44”	13.06	Scorpius