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Comets » 

Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 10:25 | Tran: 16:56 | Set: 23:27
Alt: -27.63°   Az: 329.79°   Direction: North-North-West

Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 1,459,219,307.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 19m 11s and the Declination is +06° 32’ 54” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 30.94.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)
RA: 11h 17m 52s
Dec: +06° 41’ 17”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 19m 11s
+06° 32’ 54”
10h 13m 21s
21h 32m 33s

J2000

11h 17m 52s
+06° 41’ 17”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
30.94

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 83.5°
Max altitude: 45.1°
Azimuth: 276.5°

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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Earth is currently 1,459,219,307.0 kilometers, equivalent to 9.7542785881 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 21m 7.432s to travel from comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) and arrive to us.

1,459,219,307.0
9.7542785881
1h 21m 7.432s

The following graph shows the distance of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) to Earth will happen on Saturday 20 August 2061 at a distance of 1.184464 Astronomical Units, or 177,193,271 kilometers:

Saturday 20 August 2061
177,193,271
1.184464

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) at epoch September, 04 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456905.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.64676281
Orbit inclination i 5.18441189°
Perihelion distance q 2.23454180 AU
334,282,696 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.41725069 AU
1,558,398,525 km
Semi-major axis a 6.32589624 AU
946,340,610 km
Orbital period period 15.9108 years
5,811.4101 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp July 15, 2014
2,456,853.9173 JD
Next perihelion transit June 12, 2030
2,462,665.3274 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 182.77794970447°
Longitude of the ascending node node 149.40584305451°
Mean anomaly M 3.1953968314403°
Mean motion n 0.06194710°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) 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
Jul 05 2025 11h 17m 25s +06° 44’ 41” 30.94 Leo
Jul 06 2025 11h 17m 39s +06° 43’ 07” 30.94 Leo
Jul 07 2025 11h 17m 53s +06° 41’ 31” 30.94 Leo
Jul 08 2025 11h 18m 08s +06° 39’ 53” 30.94 Leo
Jul 09 2025 11h 18m 23s +06° 38’ 13” 30.94 Leo
Jul 10 2025 11h 18m 38s +06° 36’ 32” 30.94 Leo
Jul 11 2025 11h 18m 54s +06° 34’ 49” 30.94 Leo
Jul 12 2025 11h 19m 10s +06° 33’ 04” 30.94 Leo
Jul 13 2025 11h 19m 26s +06° 31’ 17” 30.94 Leo
Jul 14 2025 11h 19m 42s +06° 29’ 29” 30.94 Leo
Jul 15 2025 11h 19m 59s +06° 27’ 39” 30.95 Leo
Jul 16 2025 11h 20m 16s +06° 25’ 48” 30.95 Leo
Jul 17 2025 11h 20m 33s +06° 23’ 55” 30.95 Leo
Jul 18 2025 11h 20m 50s +06° 22’ 01” 30.95 Leo

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