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Comets » 

Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 20:04 | Tran: 2:29 | Set: 8:49
Alt: -2.47°   Az: 280.25°   Direction: West

Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 1,305,648,598.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 39m 10s and the Declination is +04° 25’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) is 30.95 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in Virgo on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in Virgo on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)
RA: 11h 37m 53s
Dec: +04° 33’ 22”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 39m 10s
+04° 25’ 01”
06h 38m 19s
18h 17m 30s

J2000

11h 37m 53s
+04° 33’ 22”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
30.95

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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 85.6°
Max altitude: 42.9°
Azimuth: 274.4°
  • P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) 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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) from Earth is currently 1,305,648,598.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.7277218044 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 12m 35.175s to travel from Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) and arrive to us.

1,305,648,598.0
8.7277218044
1h 12m 35.175s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) 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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) 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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) 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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) to Earth happens on Sat Aug 20 2061 at a distance of 1.184464 Astronomical Units, or 177,193,271 kilometers:

Sat Aug 20 2061
177,193,271
1.184464

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 P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE), 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 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 04 September 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 2014-Jul-15 10:00:57
2,456,853.9173 JD
Next perihelion transit 2030-Jun-12 19:51
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)
View Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Jan 31 11h 40m 54s +04° 11’ 47” 30.98 Virgo
2025 Feb 01 11h 40m 41s +04° 13’ 30” 30.98 Virgo
2025 Feb 02 11h 40m 27s +04° 15’ 13” 30.97 Virgo
2025 Feb 03 11h 40m 14s +04° 16’ 58” 30.97 Virgo
2025 Feb 04 11h 40m 00s +04° 18’ 46” 30.96 Virgo
2025 Feb 05 11h 39m 46s +04° 20’ 35” 30.96 Virgo
2025 Feb 06 11h 39m 31s +04° 22’ 26” 30.96 Virgo
2025 Feb 07 11h 39m 16s +04° 24’ 18” 30.95 Virgo
2025 Feb 08 11h 39m 01s +04° 26’ 13” 30.95 Virgo
2025 Feb 09 11h 38m 45s +04° 28’ 09” 30.94 Virgo
2025 Feb 10 11h 38m 30s +04° 30’ 07” 30.94 Leo
2025 Feb 11 11h 38m 14s +04° 32’ 06” 30.93 Leo
2025 Feb 12 11h 37m 57s +04° 34’ 07” 30.93 Leo
2025 Feb 13 11h 37m 41s +04° 36’ 09” 30.93 Leo

Additional Resources