Objects in your sky: Comets

by Dominic Ford

Below is a list of the brightest few comets that are visible at present.

You are welcome to reproduce the text below for non-profit purposes, providing you credit In-The-Sky.org.

Comet name Mag Constellation Separation
from Sun
Trend Absolute magnitude
last updated
Comet name Mag Constellation Separation
from Sun
Trend Absolute magnitude
last updated
C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)4.5Ursa Major58°
Brightening
(peak at mag 0.1 on 3 Nov 2025)
2 Sep 2025
C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)10.7Corvus14°
Brightening
(peak at mag 10.6 on 9 Oct 2025)
2 Sep 2025
210P/Christensen12.1Corona Australis88°
Brightening
(peak at mag 9.8 on 15 Nov 2025)
28 Mar 2009
24P/Schaumasse13.3Gemini90°
Brightening
(peak at mag 8.4 on 7 Jan 2026)
1 Mar 2018
C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)13.5Hercules60°
Brightening
(peak at mag 7.5 on 27 Jan 2026)
1 Aug 2025
47P/Ashbrook-Jackson13.5Aquarius150°
Fading
(peak at mag 13.4 on 9 Sep 2025)
29 Feb 2012
240P/NEAT13.5Eridanus123°
Brightening
(peak at mag 12.9 on 27 Nov 2025)
2 Sep 2025
88P/Howell13.8Virgo
Brightening
(peak at mag 9.3 on 22 Mar 2026)
1 Apr 2018
48P/Johnson13.9Taurus126°
Brightening
(peak at mag 13.9 on 25 Sep 2025)
31 Oct 2018
217P/LINEAR14.0Cancer62°
Fading
2 Jul 2025
78P/Gehrels14.2Sagittarius109°
Brightening
30 Sep 2020
C/2022 N2 (PANSTARRS)14.3Taurus129°
Brightening
(peak at mag 14.2 on 30 Oct 2025)
2 Sep 2025
69P/Taylor14.3Sculptor140°
Brightening
Unknown
65P/Gunn14.6Sagittarius90°
Fading
1 Aug 2017
40P/Vaisala14.7Virgo18°
Brightening
(peak at mag 14.3 on 23 Nov 2025)
14 Sep 2017
C/2022 E2 (ATLAS)14.9Andromeda128°
Fading
(peak at mag 14.7 on 9 Aug 2025)
3 Mar 2025
C/2021 G2 (ATLAS)15.1Serpens Caput47°
Fading
2 Sep 2025
C/2023 C2 (ATLAS)15.2Cepheus120°
Fading
5 Sep 2024
60P/Tsuchinshan15.4Virgo15°
Fading
3 Oct 2020
63P/Wild15.4Auriga90°
Brightening
(peak at mag 13.0 on 22 Apr 2026)
1 Aug 2013
C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)15.6Auriga93°
Brightening
(peak at mag 15.5 on 28 Oct 2025)
2 Dec 2023
43P/Wolf-Harrington15.6Leo46°
Brightening
(peak at mag 15.4 on 19 Jan 2026)
4 Dec 2018
168P/Hergenrother15.7Lupus57°
Brightening
15 Jan 2013
C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS)15.7Aquila106°
Fading
1 Aug 2025
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)15.8Hercules82°
Fading
3 Dec 2024

The position of each comet is calculated from orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

The brightnesses of comets are estimated from magnitude parameters published by the BAA Comet Section, where these are available. These are computed from the observations they receive from amateur astronomers.

Comets are intrinsically highly unpredictable objects, since their brightness depends on the scattering of sunlight from dust particles in the comet's coma and tail. This dust is continually streaming away from the comet's nucleus, and its density at any particular time is governed by the rate of sublimation of the ice in the comet's nucleus, as it is heated by the Sun's rays. It also depends on the amount of dust that is mixed in with that ice. This is very difficult to predict in advance, and can be highly variable even between successive apparitions of the same comet.

In consequence, while the future positions of comets are usually known with a high degree of confidence, their future brightnesses are not. For most comets, we do not publish any magnitude estimates at all. For the few comets where we do make estimates, we generally prefer the BAA's magnitude parameters to those published by the Minor Planet Center, since they are typically updated more often.

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South El Monte

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Longitude:
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34.05°N
118.05°W
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