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Comet

Wolf

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14P/Wolf

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.752 AU
True anomaly
9.29°
Distance from Earth
1.835 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Wolf — 2.752 AU from the Sun Wolf
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Wolf is 1.835 AU from Earth today (15.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 55m 06s
Declination
+08° 13′ 48″
Constellation
Pegasus
Distance from Earth
1.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
151.16° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
4.258 AU
Eccentricity
0.3558
Inclination
27.9°
Orbital period
8.79 years
Perihelion
2.743 AU
Aphelion
5.773 AU
Longitude of ascending node
202.12°
Argument of periapsis
159.04°
Epoch · J2000
2457853.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 684.6 LD
1.759 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.716

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
558
Data arc
34.21 years
First observed
27 July 1992
Last observed
11 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
14 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.33 km
Rotation period
9.02 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.6

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wolf, Max
Discovery date
17 September 1884
Discovery site
Heidelberg, Germany

Also known as 14P · 14P/1884 S1 · 14P/1891 J1 · 1884 III · 1884c · 1891 II · 1891b · 1911a

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2041-03-09 23:57:00 Juptr 0.6008 AU 233.8 LD 7.3 km/s
2064-09-15 20:58:00 Juptr 0.9973 AU 388.1 LD 6.2 km/s
2124-01-22 23:05:00 Juptr 0.6907 AU 268.8 LD 6.2 km/s
2159-08-16 10:12:00 Juptr 0.5574 AU 216.9 LD 6.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources