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Comet

Wild

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116P/Wild 4

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.464 AU
True anomaly
208.33°
Distance from Earth
3.577 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Wild — 4.464 AU from the Sun Wild
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Wild is 3.577 AU from Earth today (29.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 04m 33s
Declination
+19° 05′ 33″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
3.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
149.97° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.484 AU
Eccentricity
0.3723
Inclination
3.61°
Orbital period
6.5 years
Perihelion
2.187 AU
Aphelion
4.781 AU
Longitude of ascending node
20.99°
Argument of periapsis
173.31°
Epoch · J2000
2457494.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 461.8 LD
1.1866 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.009

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
4,667
Data arc
15.97 years
First observed
16 October 2007
Last observed
4 October 2023
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
13 September 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.3
7.6

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wild, Paul
Discovery date
21 January 1990
Discovery site
Astronomical Institute, Berne University

Also known as 116P · 116P/1990 B1 · 116P/1994 V1 · 1990 X · 1990a · 1994v

Named

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2059-01-18 07:22:00 Juptr 0.77 AU 299.6 LD 5.4 km/s
2070-09-19 17:51:00 Jupiter 0.2381 AU 92.7 LD 4.2 km/s
2070-09-19 17:51:00 Juptr 0.2381 AU 92.7 LD 4.2 km/s
2082-12-02 02:53:00 Juptr 0.4234 AU 164.8 LD 4.6 km/s
2082-12-02 02:53:00 Jupiter 0.4234 AU 164.8 LD 4.6 km/s
2129-12-25 06:39:00 Juptr 0.8084 AU 314.6 LD 5.7 km/s
2142-05-25 15:11:00 Juptr 0.6789 AU 264.2 LD 5.5 km/s
2189-10-27 04:48:00 Jupiter 0.4582 AU 178.3 LD 4.8 km/s
2189-10-27 04:48:00 Juptr 0.4582 AU 178.3 LD 4.8 km/s

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

Sources