Objects in your sky: Comets
1980
Oct 16 – 8P/Tuttle at perihelion[chart]Oct 27 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
Nov 14 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
Nov 22 – 46P/Wirtanen at perihelion[chart]
Dec 29 – 19P/Borrelly at perihelion[chart]
1984
Feb 16 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]Jul 25 – 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann at perihelion[chart]
Dec 05 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]
1986
Feb 24 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]Mar 01 – 1P/Halley at perihelion[chart]
Nov 13 – 62P/Tsuchinshan at perihelion[chart]
1987
May 01 – 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup at perihelion[chart]Jun 08 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
Nov 05 – 19P/Borrelly at perihelion[chart]
Nov 21 – 88P/Howell at perihelion[chart]
1988
Jun 18 – 66P/duToit at perihelion[chart]Sep 03 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]
Nov 17 – 141P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
1990
Apr 09 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]Apr 17 – 22P/Kopff at perihelion[chart]
Sep 28 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
Oct 25 – 185P/Petriew at perihelion[chart]
1994
Jan 17 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]Feb 01 – 144P/Kushida at perihelion[chart]
May 31 – 8P/Tuttle at perihelion[chart]
Jun 10 – 10P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Sep 10 – 19P/Borrelly at perihelion[chart]
1995
Mar 31 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]Jun 12 – 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann at perihelion[chart]
Aug 10 – 58P/Jackson-Neujmin at perihelion[chart]
Aug 12 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]
1997
Mar 14 – 46P/Wirtanen at perihelion[chart]Mar 29 – C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at perihelion[chart]
Apr 10 – 81P/Wild at perihelion[chart]
May 09 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
2001
Sep 19 – 185P/Petriew at perihelion[chart]Oct 26 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]
Dec 23 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
2003
Jun 02 – 66P/duToit at perihelion[chart]Nov 15 – 58P/Jackson-Neujmin at perihelion[chart]
Dec 20 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
2004
Apr 24 – 88P/Howell at perihelion[chart]Oct 15 – 104P/Kowal at perihelion[chart]
Oct 22 – 78P/Gehrels at perihelion[chart]
Dec 02 – 141P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
2006
Apr 18 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]Sep 06 – 177P/Barnard at perihelion[chart]
2008
Jan 13 – 8P/Tuttle at perihelion[chart]Jan 27 – 46P/Wirtanen at perihelion[chart]
Apr 10 – 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup at perihelion[chart]
May 22 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]
Dec 24 – 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at perihelion[chart]
2009
Jan 28 – 144P/Kushida at perihelion[chart]Apr 18 – C/2009 G1 (STEREO) at perihelion[chart]
Jun 11 – 22P/Kopff at perihelion[chart]
Sep 14 – 217P/LINEAR at perihelion[chart]
Oct 14 – 88P/Howell at perihelion[chart]
2010
Feb 11 – 81P/Wild at perihelion[chart]Jul 06 – 10P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Jul 31 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
2017
Mar 12 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]Apr 10 – 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak at perihelion[chart]
Sep 09 – 1I/`Oumuamua at perihelion[chart]
Oct 21 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
2018
May 03 – 37P/Forbes at perihelion[chart]May 17 – 66P/duToit at perihelion[chart]
Jul 19 – C/2017 T3 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 03 – C/2018 N1 (NEOWISE) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 10 – C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 13 – 48P/Johnson at perihelion[chart]
Aug 16 – C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
Sep 12 – 21P/Giacobini-Zinner at perihelion[chart]
Nov 11 – 38P/Stephan-Oterma at perihelion[chart]
Dec 02 – C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 02 – C/2018 L2 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 12 – 46P/Wirtanen at perihelion[chart]
2019
Feb 05 – C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) at perihelion[chart]May 11 – C/2018 W1 (Catalina) at perihelion[chart]
Jun 07 – C/2018 R3 (Lemmon) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 06 – 168P/Hergenrother at perihelion[chart]
Sep 05 – C/2018 W2 (Africano) at perihelion[chart]
Sep 10 – 260P/McNaught at perihelion[chart]
Nov 11 – C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 08 – 2I/Borisov at perihelion[chart]
2020
May 04 – C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]May 27 – 58P/Jackson-Neujmin at perihelion[chart]
Jun 18 – C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) at perihelion[chart]
Jul 01 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
Jul 03 – C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 14 – C/2020 Q1 (Borisov) at perihelion[chart]
Sep 14 – C/2020 K8 (Catalina-ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Sep 26 – 88P/Howell at perihelion[chart]
Oct 20 – C/2020 P1 (NEOWISE) at perihelion[chart]
Oct 25 – C/2020 M3 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 01 – C/2019 N1 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 12 – C/2020 S3 (Erasmus) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 16 – 141P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
Dec 26 – 398P/Boattini at perihelion[chart]
2021
Jan 22 – C/2021 A2 (NEOWISE) at perihelion[chart]Feb 27 – C/2021 D1 (SWAN) at perihelion[chart]
Mar 02 – C/2020 R4 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Mar 24 – 10P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Jul 11 – C/2020 T2 (Palomar) at perihelion[chart]
Jul 13 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]
Aug 27 – 8P/Tuttle at perihelion[chart]
Sep 08 – 4P/Faye at perihelion[chart]
Nov 02 – 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at perihelion[chart]
2022
Jan 03 – C/2021 A1 (Leonard) at perihelion[chart]Jan 09 – C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Jan 11 – 104P/Kowal at perihelion[chart]
Feb 01 – 19P/Borrelly at perihelion[chart]
Mar 05 – 9P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Mar 18 – 22P/Kopff at perihelion[chart]
Apr 06 – C/2021 F1 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
Apr 26 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]
Jun 11 – C/2021 E3 (ZTF) at perihelion[chart]
Jul 30 – C/2021 P4 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Aug 25 – 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann at perihelion[chart]
Nov 24 – 118P/Shoemaker-Levy at perihelion[chart]
Nov 28 – C/2022 P1 (NEOWISE) at perihelion[chart]
Dec 15 – 81P/Wild at perihelion[chart]
Dec 19 – C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
2023
Jan 12 – C/2022 E3 (ZTF) at perihelion[chart]Jan 14 – C/2022 U2 (ATLAS) at perihelion[chart]
Jan 31 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
Feb 18 – C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
Mar 29 – C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
May 08 – C/2020 V2 (ZTF) at perihelion[chart]
May 09 – C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) at perihelion[chart]
May 14 – 237P/LINEAR at perihelion[chart]
Jul 12 – 185P/Petriew at perihelion[chart]
Oct 22 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]
Dec 25 – 62P/Tsuchinshan at perihelion[chart]
2024
Jan 25 – 144P/Kushida at perihelion[chart]May 19 – 46P/Wirtanen at perihelion[chart]
Jun 11 – 154P/Brewington at perihelion[chart]
Nov 29 – 333P/LINEAR at perihelion[chart]
2025
Mar 25 – 21P/Giacobini-Zinner at perihelion[chart]Nov 22 – 210P/Christensen at perihelion[chart]
Dec 20 – 240P/NEAT at perihelion[chart]
2026
Jan 08 – 24P/Schaumasse at perihelion[chart]Mar 18 – 88P/Howell at perihelion[chart]
Apr 22 – 141P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
Jun 24 – 78P/Gehrels at perihelion[chart]
Aug 01 – 10P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Nov 12 – 69P/Taylor at perihelion[chart]
Nov 28 – 161P/Hartley-IRAS at perihelion[chart]
2027
Feb 11 – 2P/Encke at perihelion[chart]Aug 29 – 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova at perihelion[chart]
Oct 08 – 9P/Tempel at perihelion[chart]
Oct 11 – 104P/Kowal at perihelion[chart]
2028
Feb 03 – 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann at perihelion[chart]Feb 07 – 15P/Finlay at perihelion[chart]
Feb 16 – 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak at perihelion[chart]
May 11 – 96P/Machholz at perihelion[chart]
Aug 04 – 22P/Kopff at perihelion[chart]
Sep 02 – 58P/Jackson-Neujmin at perihelion[chart]
Dec 08 – 19P/Borrelly at perihelion[chart]
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.