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The Brighter Comets in 2010:     81P/Wild 2



Charts showing path 81P/Wild 2:   during February, March and April 2010 and near time brightest       Positions of 81P/Wild


Comet 81P/Wild 2

Comet 81P/Wild 2 will be brightest towards the end of March and in early April when it is expected to reach magnitude 9.3. By then it will rise early evening and be visible for the rest of the night. The comet will be in Virgo, a few degrees from Spica during the time it is brighter than magnitude 10. At its peak brightness it will be less than half a degree from the magnitude 4 star, ι Vir.

At its brightest, the comet will be beyond the reach of a 50mm aperture binocular. Being a diffuse object, it will need a small telescope at low power to view. It is likely to appear as a faint fuzzy object.

81P/Wild 2 was discovered by Paul wild a Swiss astronomer in 1978. Its current period is 6.42 years, its distance from the Sun ranges from from 1.60 AU at perihelion to 5.31 Au at aphelion.

Chart showing the path of 81P/Wild 2 during February, March and April 2010.

The chart is a southern hemisphere view with north at the bottom and east to the right.
Stars to magnitude 9.0 are shown, which is about the limiting magnitude of 50 mm aperture binoculars.
The circle on the chart represents a field of view 5° in diameter, a fairly typical field of view for binoculars.

Path of 81P/Wild 2.

Enlargement showing positions of 81P/Wild 2 when at its brightest

The chart is a southern hemisphere view with north at the bottom and east to the right. Stars to magnitude 12.0 are shown.
The circle on the chart represents a field of view half a degree in diameter.

Paths of 81P/Wild 2.

Chart prepared using GUIDE 8.0. Program produced by Project Pluto.

Positional data for 81P/Wild 2 from February to April 2010.

The table shows the position of the comet , its distance in AU from the Sun and Earth, its magnitude, elongation from the Sun, the constellation it is in and the approximate rise time at Wellington. Times will differ by a few minutes at other places in NZ.

      Date         RA      Dec    Sun    Earth   Mag   Elong   Con    Rise
                hr min    deg  '   AU     AU            deg            pm
   30 Jan 2010  13 10.7   -04 48  1.615  0.967  10.1   111.7   Vir    11:30 NZDT
    6 Feb 2010  13 23.7   -05 35  1.607  0.914   9.9   115.5   Vir    
   13 Feb 2010  13 35.7   -06 11  1.601  0.864   9.7   119.5   Vir    11:00 NZDT
   20 Feb 2010  13 46.4   -06 38  1.598  0.820   9.6   123.9   Vir
   27 Feb 2010  13 55.7   -06 53  1.599  0.781   9.5   128.7   Vir    10:15 NZDT
    6 Mar 2010  14 03.2   -06 58  1.602  0.747   9.4   133.8   Vir
   13 Mar 2010  14 09.0   -06 53  1.608  0.718   9.4   139.4   Vir     9:40 NZDT
   20 Mar 2010  14 12.7   -06 39  1.618  0.696   9.3   145.4   Vir
   27 Mar 2010  14 14.6   -06 18  1.630  0.681   9.3   151.8   Vir     8:50 NZDT
    3 Apr 2010  14 14.7   -05 54  1.645  0.674   9.4   158.4   Vir
   10 Apr 2010  14 13.4   -05 29  1.663  0.675   9.5   164.9   Vir     7:00 NZST
   17 Apr 2010  14 11.1   -05 07  1.683  0.685   9.6   170.5   Vir      
   24 Apr 2010  14 08.4   -04 51  1.705  0.703   9.7   172.1   Vir     6:00 NZST
    1 May 2010  14 05.9   -04 43  1.730  0.732   9.9   167.9   Vir     
    8 May 2010  14 04.0   -04 45  1.757  0.769  10.1   161.8   Vir     5:00 NZST
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