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Comets » 

Comet 81P/Wild

Above the horizon.  Rise: 7:33 | Tran: 12:37 | Set: 17:42
Alt: 0.23°   Az: 107.37°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 81P/Wild is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 879,930,804.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 22h 28m 37s and the Declination is -10° 32’ 04” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild is 22.28 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 81P/Wild in Aquarius on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 81P/Wild in Aquarius on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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.

81P/Wild
RA: 22h 27m 17s
Dec: -10° 39’ 47”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 81P/Wild. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

22h 28m 37s
-10° 32’ 04”
18h 55m 34s
17h 24m 11s

J2000

22h 27m 17s
-10° 39’ 47”

Additional Information

Aquarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.28

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

Azimuth: 100.5°
Max altitude: 28.0°
Azimuth: 259.5°
  • 81P/Wild is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 0.23° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 81P/Wild 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 81P/Wild from Earth is currently 879,930,804.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.8819741209 Astronomical Units. Light takes 48m 55.133s to travel from Comet 81P/Wild and arrive to us.

879,930,804.0
5.8819741209
48m 55.133s

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.

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

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 81P/Wild to Earth happens on Sun Apr 6 2042 at a distance of 0.655769 Astronomical Units, or 98,101,710 kilometers:

Sun Apr 6 2042
98,101,710
0.655769

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 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 81P/Wild as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 81P/Wild at epoch 20 November 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458808.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.53739891
Orbit inclination i 3.23700417°
Perihelion distance q 1.59585607 AU
238,736,671 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.30363508 AU
793,412,517 km
Semi-major axis a 3.44974558 AU
516,074,594 km
Orbital period period 6.4075 years
2,340.3404 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Dec-15 18:49:47
2,459,929.2846 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-May-13 02:59
2,462,269.6250 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 41.725230851144°
Longitude of the ascending node node 136.11022085006°
Mean anomaly M 187.59668142321°
Mean motion n 0.15382378°/day

Orbit Visualization

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 10 22h 22m 26s -11° 06’ 33” 22.24 Aquarius
2025 Feb 11 22h 23m 17s -11° 01’ 52” 22.25 Aquarius
2025 Feb 12 22h 24m 08s -10° 57’ 10” 22.25 Aquarius
2025 Feb 13 22h 24m 57s -10° 52’ 27” 22.26 Aquarius
2025 Feb 14 22h 25m 48s -10° 47’ 45” 22.26 Aquarius
2025 Feb 15 22h 26m 39s -10° 43’ 01” 22.27 Aquarius
2025 Feb 16 22h 27m 30s -10° 38’ 17” 22.27 Aquarius
2025 Feb 17 22h 28m 21s -10° 33’ 33” 22.28 Aquarius
2025 Feb 18 22h 29m 11s -10° 28’ 49” 22.28 Aquarius
2025 Feb 19 22h 30m 02s -10° 24’ 04” 22.28 Aquarius
2025 Feb 20 22h 30m 53s -10° 19’ 18” 22.29 Aquarius
2025 Feb 21 22h 31m 43s -10° 14’ 32” 22.29 Aquarius
2025 Feb 22 22h 32m 34s -10° 09’ 47” 22.29 Aquarius
2025 Feb 23 22h 33m 25s -10° 05’ 01” 22.30 Aquarius

Additional Resources