# 63P/Wild

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"Wild 1" redirects here. For other comets of the same name, see [Comet Wild](/source/Comet_Wild).

**63P/Wild** is a [periodic](/source/List_of_periodic_comets) [comet](/source/Comet) roughly 3 km in diameter with a 13.5-year orbit around the [Sun](/source/Sun). As of June 2026 the comet has a [solar elongation](/source/Solar_elongation) of less than 60 degrees and a [declination](/source/Declination) of +25.[6] The comet will come to [perihelion](/source/Perihelion) on 6 July 2026.[3]

## Observational history

It was first detected by [Paul Wild](/source/Paul_Wild_(Swiss_astronomer)) at the [Zimmerwald Observatory](/source/Zimmerwald_Observatory) of the Astronomical Institute of Bern, Switzerland on a photographic plate exposed on 26 March 1960, who estimated its brightness at a magnitude of 14.3. Its elliptical orbit was then calculated to have an orbital period of 13.17 years.[7]

Its predicted reappearance in 1973 was observed by [Elizabeth Roemer](/source/Elizabeth_Roemer) of the [U.S. Naval Observatory](/source/United_States_Naval_Observatory_Flagstaff_Station), Flagstaff, Arizona at a magnitude of 17.5. Although not found in 1986 it was rediscovered in 1999 with a magnitude of around 12. The 2013 return was moderately favourable with magnitude again around 12.

The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 2.9 km (1.8 mi), assuming a [geometric albedo](/source/Geometric_albedo) of 0.04.[8]

## See also

- [List of numbered comets](/source/List_of_numbered_comets)

## References

1. ["Comet Names and Designations"](http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/names1.html). *International Comet Quarterly*. Retrieved 31 December 2024.

1. ["COBS Observation list: 63P"](https://www.cobs.si/obs_list?id=501). Crni Vrh Observatory. Retrieved 2026-05-30. [Comet 63P/Wild Lightcurve](https://www.cobs.si/comet/501/)

1. ["Horizons Batch for 63P/Wild 1 (90000674) on 2026-Jul-06"](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27DES%3D63P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Jul-03%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Jul-09%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27) (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). [JPL Horizons](/source/JPL_Horizons_On-Line_Ephemeris_System). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250929142103/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27DES%3D63P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Jul-03%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Jul-09%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27) 2025-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-29. (JPL#31, Soln.date: 2014-Feb-19)

1. ["Horizons Batch for 63P/Wild 1 (90000675) on 2039-Dec-14"](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27DES%3D63P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272039-Dec-13%27&STOP_TIME=%272039-Dec-16%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27) (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). [JPL Horizons](/source/JPL_Horizons_On-Line_Ephemeris_System). Retrieved 2026-04-15. (JPL#48, Soln.date: 2026-Apr-14)

1. ["Solar elongation (Sun-Observer-Target angle) for 63P/Wild 1 in June-July 2026"](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27DES%3D63P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Jun-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Jul-14%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20day%27&QUANTITIES=%271,23%27). [JPL Horizons](/source/JPL_Horizons_On-Line_Ephemeris_System). Retrieved 2026-06-01.

1. G. W. Kronk. ["63P/Wild 1"](https://cometography.com/pcomets/063p.html). *Cometography.com*. Retrieved 10 December 2014.

1. P. L. Lamy; I. Toth; H. A. Weaver; M. F. A'Hearn; L. Jorda (2009). ["Properties of the nuclei and comae of 13 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope snapshot observations"](https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2009/47/aa11462-08.pdf). *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. **508** (2): 1045–1056. [Bibcode:2009A&A...508.1045L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009A%26A...508.1045L). [doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200811462](https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200811462). [S2CID 125249770](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:125249770)

## External links

- [63P/Wild 1](http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0063P/index.html) at Seiichi Yoshida's website
- [63P/Wild](https://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/63) at Gideon van Buitenen's website

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [63P/Wild](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/63P%2FWild) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/63P%2FWild?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.