Objects in your sky: Comets

by Dominic Ford

38P/Stephan-Oterma

2018 Nov 13 perihelion[chart]

55P/Tempel-Tuttle

1998 Jan 22 perihelion[chart]

161P/Hartley-IRAS

2026 Nov 28 perihelion[chart]

168P/Hergenrother

2012 Oct 22 perihelion[chart]

210P/Christensen

2025 Nov 22 perihelion[chart]

C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)

1997 Mar 30 perihelion[chart]

C/1998 M5 (LINEAR)

1999 Jan 26 perihelion[chart]

C/1998 P1 (Williams)

1998 Oct 24 perihelion[chart]

C/1998 T1 (LINEAR)

1999 Jun 25 perihelion[chart]

C/1998 U5 (LINEAR)

1998 Dec 08 perihelion[chart]

C/1999 J3 (LINEAR)

1999 Sep 15 perihelion[chart]

C/1999 N2 (Lynn)

1999 Jul 28 perihelion[chart]

C/1999 S4 (LINEAR)

2000 Jul 28 perihelion[chart]

C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley)

2000 Dec 06 perihelion[chart]

C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR)

2002 Jan 12 perihelion[chart]

C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)

2004 May 15 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 F1 (Utsunomiya)

2002 Apr 22 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 O7 (LINEAR)

2003 Sep 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 T7 (LINEAR)

2004 Apr 26 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 V1 (NEAT)

2003 Feb 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa)

2003 Feb 05 perihelion[chart]

C/2002 Y1 (Juels-Holvorcem)

2003 Apr 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2003 K4 (LINEAR)

2004 Oct 14 perihelion[chart]

C/2003 T3 (Tabur)

2004 May 04 perihelion[chart]

C/2003 T4 (LINEAR)

2005 Apr 07 perihelion[chart]

C/2004 F4 (Bradfield)

2004 Apr 13 perihelion[chart]

C/2004 H6 (SWAN)

2004 May 04 perihelion[chart]

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)

2005 Jan 15 perihelion[chart]

C/2006 A1 (Pojmanski)

2006 Feb 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2006 M4 (SWAN)

2006 Sep 29 perihelion[chart]

C/2006 P1 (McNaught)

2007 Jan 07 perihelion[chart]

C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR)

2007 Aug 13 perihelion[chart]

C/2006 W3 (Christensen)

2009 Jun 29 perihelion[chart]

C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy)

2007 Mar 26 perihelion[chart]

C/2007 N3 (Lulin)

2009 Jan 13 perihelion[chart]

C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)

2009 Oct 07 perihelion[chart]

C/2007 T1 (McNaught)

2007 Dec 17 perihelion[chart]

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)

2008 Jun 27 perihelion[chart]

C/2008 A1 (McNaught)

2008 Sep 29 perihelion[chart]

C/2008 C1 (Chen-Gao)

2008 Apr 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2008 Q3 (Garradd)

2009 Jun 24 perihelion[chart]

C/2008 T2 (Cardinal)

2009 Jun 05 perihelion[chart]

C/2009 F6 (Yi-SWAN)

2009 May 09 perihelion[chart]

C/2009 G1 (STEREO)

2009 Apr 17 perihelion[chart]

C/2009 K5 (McNaught)

2010 May 03 perihelion[chart]

C/2009 P1 (Garradd)

2011 Dec 26 perihelion[chart]

C/2009 R1 (McNaught)

2010 Jun 30 perihelion[chart]

C/2010 X1 (Elenin)

2011 Sep 15 perihelion[chart]

C/2011 A3 (Gibbs)

2011 Dec 13 perihelion[chart]

C/2011 C1 (McNaught)

2011 Apr 19 perihelion[chart]

C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

2013 Mar 08 perihelion[chart]

C/2011 M1 (LINEAR)

2011 Sep 07 perihelion[chart]

C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)

2011 Dec 19 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)

2013 Mar 23 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)

2014 Aug 25 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 S1 (ISON)

2013 Dec 01 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 T5 (Bressi)

2013 Feb 21 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 V2 (LINEAR)

2013 Aug 11 perihelion[chart]

C/2012 X1 (LINEAR)

2014 Feb 17 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 N4 (Borisov)

2013 Aug 19 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy)

2013 Dec 22 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina)

2014 Jul 06 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 US10 (Catalina)

2015 Nov 16 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 V3 (Nevski)

2013 Oct 28 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden)

2014 Sep 27 perihelion[chart]

C/2013 X1 (PANSTARRS)

2016 Apr 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2014 E2 (Jacques)

2014 Jul 02 perihelion[chart]

C/2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS)

2015 Jul 03 perihelion[chart]

C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

2015 Jan 27 perihelion[chart]

C/2014 S2 (PANSTARRS)

2015 Dec 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 C2 (SWAN)

2015 Mar 04 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)

2017 May 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 F3 (SWAN)

2015 Mar 08 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 F5 (SWAN-Xingming)

2015 Mar 30 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 G2 (MASTER)

2015 May 25 perihelion[chart]

C/2015 V2 (Johnson)

2017 Jun 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS)

2018 Aug 10 perihelion[chart]

C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)

2017 Jan 12 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 E1 (Borisov)

2017 Apr 09 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 E4 (Lovejoy)

2017 Apr 22 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

2022 Dec 18 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 O1 (ASASSN)

2017 Oct 16 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS)

2018 Aug 16 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS)

2020 May 04 perihelion[chart]

C/2017 T3 (ATLAS)

2018 Jul 19 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 L2 (ATLAS)

2018 Dec 02 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 N1 (NEOWISE)

2018 Aug 02 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 R3 (Lemmon)

2019 Jun 07 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto)

2018 Dec 03 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 W2 (Africano)

2019 Sep 05 perihelion[chart]

C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto)

2019 Feb 05 perihelion[chart]

C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)

2022 Jan 09 perihelion[chart]

C/2019 N1 (ATLAS)

2020 Dec 01 perihelion[chart]

C/2019 U6 (Lemmon)

2020 Jun 18 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

2020 Jul 03 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 K8 (Catalina-ATLAS)

2020 Sep 14 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 M3 (ATLAS)

2020 Oct 25 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 P1 (NEOWISE)

2020 Oct 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 Q1 (Borisov)

2020 Aug 14 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 R4 (ATLAS)

2021 Mar 01 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 S3 (Erasmus)

2020 Dec 11 perihelion[chart]

C/2020 T2 (Palomar)

2021 Jul 11 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 A1 (Leonard)

2022 Jan 03 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 A2 (NEOWISE)

2021 Jan 22 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 D1 (SWAN)

2021 Feb 27 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 F1 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS)

2022 Apr 06 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 P4 (ATLAS)

2022 Jul 30 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS)

2024 Feb 14 perihelion[chart]

C/2021 T4 (Lemmon)

2023 Jul 31 perihelion[chart]

C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)

2023 Feb 18 perihelion[chart]

C/2022 P1 (NEOWISE)

2022 Nov 28 perihelion[chart]

C/2022 U2 (ATLAS)

2023 Jan 14 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

2024 Sep 27 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)

2023 Jul 01 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 H2 (Lemmon)

2023 Oct 29 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)

2023 Sep 17 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 S3 (Lemmon)

2024 Jan 19 perihelion[chart]

C/2023 V4 (Camarasa-Duszanowicz)

2024 May 30 perihelion[chart]

C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)

2026 Jan 20 perihelion[chart]

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)

2025 Jan 13 perihelion[chart]

C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)

2024 Oct 28 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.

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Fairfield

Latitude:
Longitude:
Timezone:

41.14°N
73.26°W
EDT

Color scheme