116P/Wild

"Wild 4" redirects here. For other comets of the same name, see Comet Wild.

116P/Wild, also known as Wild 4, is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with (T_Jupiter > 3; a < a_Jupiter).

116P/Wild

Comet Wild 4 photographed by the Zwicky Transient Facility on 26 February 2022.
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Paul Wild
Discovery date	January 21, 1990
Designations
MPC designation	P/1990 B1, P/1994 V1[2]
Alternative designations	1990 X, 1990a, 1994v Wild 4
Orbital characteristics[3][4]
Epoch	17 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5)
Observation arc	34.62 years
Number of observations	6,425
Aphelion	4.779 AU
Perihelion	2.195 AU
Semi-major axis	3.487 AU
Eccentricity	0.37401
Orbital period	6.511 years
Inclination	3.604°
Longitude of ascending node	20.965°
Argument of periapsis	173.18°
Mean anomaly	124.64°
Last perihelion	16 July 2022
Next perihelion	16 January 2029[5]
TJupiter	3.009
Earth MOID	1.187 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.188 AU
Physical characteristics[3][6]
Mean radius	3.0–3.5 km (1.9–2.2 mi)
Comet total magnitude (M1)	7.6
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	12.9

On 4 November 2042, the comet will pass about 0.029 AU (4.3 million km; 2.7 million mi) from 1 Ceres.^[3]