© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

Comet 96P/Machholz passes perihelion

Dominic Ford, Editor
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Comet 96P/Machholz will make its closest approach to the Sun on 5 June, at a distance of 0.12 AU.

From Cambridge on the day of perihelion it will not be readily observable since it will be very close to the Sun, at a separation of only 3° from it.

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The events that comprise the 1991 apparition of 96P/Machholz are as follows:

Date Event
05 Jun 1991Comet 96P/Machholz passes perihelion

The table below lists the times when 96P/Machholz will be visible from Cambridge day-by-day through its apparition:

Date Constellation Comet visibility
15 May 1991CetusNot observable
17 May 1991CetusNot observable
19 May 1991EridanusNot observable
21 May 1991EridanusNot observable
23 May 1991EridanusNot observable
25 May 1991TaurusNot observable
27 May 1991TaurusNot observable
29 May 1991TaurusNot observable
31 May 1991TaurusNot observable
02 Jun 1991TaurusNot observable
04 Jun 1991TaurusNot observable
06 Jun 1991TaurusNot observable
08 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
10 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
12 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
14 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
16 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
18 Jun 1991AurigaNot observable
20 Jun 1991LynxNot observable
22 Jun 1991LynxNot observable
24 Jun 1991LynxVisible from 21:55 until 22:19
Highest at 21:55, 25° above NW horizon

A more detailed table of 96P/Machholz's position on each night is available here. A diagram of the orbit of 96P/Machholz is available here.

Finder chart

The chart below shows the path of 96P/Machholz over the course of its apparition, as calculated from the orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). It is available for download, either on dark background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats, or on a light background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats. It was produced using StarCharter.

Comet brightnesses

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.

No estimate for the brightness of comet 96P/Machholz is currently available.

The comet's position at perihelion will be:

Object Right Ascension Declination Constellation Magnitude
Comet 96P/Machholz 05h04m50s 24°52'N Taurus 4.5

The coordinates are given in J2000.0.

The sky on 16 Apr 2024

The sky on 16 April 2024
Sunrise
05:59
Sunset
19:27
Twilight ends
21:09
Twilight begins
04:16

8-day old moon
Waxing Gibbous

63%

8 days old

Planets
Rise Culm. Set
Mercury 05:37 12:10 18:44
Venus 05:38 11:56 18:14
Moon 12:11 19:59 03:35
Mars 04:41 10:24 16:07
Jupiter 07:07 14:15 21:24
Saturn 04:35 10:10 15:46
All times shown in EDT.

Warning

Never attempt to point a pair of binoculars or a telescope at an object close to the Sun. Doing so may result in immediate and permanent blindness.

Source

This event was automatically generated on the basis of orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) , and is updated whenever new elements become available. It was last updated on 02 Jan 2024.

Image credit

© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

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Cambridge

Latitude:
Longitude:
Timezone:

42.38°N
71.11°W
EDT

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