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Comets » 

Comet West (C/1975 V1-A)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 0:44 | Tran: 5:21 | Set: 9:54
Alt: -24.22°   Az: 85.76°   Direction: East

Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 11,215,467,608.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 42m 07s and the Declination is -16° 11’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) is 29.27 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) in Sagittarius on May, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) in Sagittarius on May, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/1975 V1-A (West)
RA: 19h 40m 40s
Dec: -16° 15’ 30”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet West (C/1975 V1-A). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet West (C/1975 V1-A)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 42m 07s
-16° 11’ 52”
16h 45m 07s
12h 27m 14s

J2000

19h 40m 40s
-16° 15’ 30”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
29.27

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 West (C/1975 V1-A) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 106.2°
Max altitude: 22.3°
Azimuth: 253.8°
  • C/1975 V1-A (West) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/1975 V1-A (West) 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 West (C/1975 V1-A) from Earth is currently 11,215,467,608.0 kilometers, equivalent to 74.9707703427 Astronomical Units. Light takes 10h 23m 30.773s to travel from Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) and arrive to us.

11,215,467,608.0
74.9707703427
10h 23m 30.773s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) 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 West (C/1975 V1-A) 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 C/1975 V1-A (West) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) to Earth happens on Fri Jul 5 2013 at a distance of 61.737494 Astronomical Units, or 9,235,797,721 kilometers:

Fri Jul 5 2013
9,235,797,721
61.737494

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 West (C/1975 V1-A), 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 West (C/1975 V1-A) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) at epoch 09 May 1976 00:00 UTC (JD: 2442908.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00001609
Orbit inclination i 43.07404350°
Perihelion distance q 0.19659497 AU
29,410,189 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1976-Feb-25 05:19:38
2,442,833.7220 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 358.43172080872°
Longitude of the ascending node node 118.91753467696°
Mean anomaly M 5.455779729386E-5°
Mean motion n 0.00000073°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A)
View Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet West (C/1975 V1-A) 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 May 05 19h 42m 16s -16° 11’ 55” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 06 19h 42m 15s -16° 11’ 54” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 07 19h 42m 14s -16° 11’ 53” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 08 19h 42m 13s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 09 19h 42m 11s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 10 19h 42m 10s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 11 19h 42m 09s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 12 19h 42m 07s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 13 19h 42m 06s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 14 19h 42m 04s -16° 11’ 52” 29.27 Sagittarius
2025 May 15 19h 42m 03s -16° 11’ 53” 29.26 Sagittarius
2025 May 16 19h 42m 01s -16° 11’ 53” 29.26 Sagittarius
2025 May 17 19h 41m 59s -16° 11’ 54” 29.26 Sagittarius
2025 May 18 19h 41m 58s -16° 11’ 55” 29.26 Sagittarius

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