© 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 21 October, at a distance of 0.12 AU.

From Fairfield 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 6° from it.

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The events that comprise the 2017 apparition of 96P/Machholz are as follows:

Date Event
21 Oct 2017Comet 96P/Machholz passes perihelion

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

Date Constellation Comet visibility
30 Sep 2017CentaurusNot observable
02 Oct 2017CentaurusNot observable
04 Oct 2017CentaurusNot observable
06 Oct 2017CentaurusNot observable
08 Oct 2017CentaurusNot observable
10 Oct 2017CentaurusNot observable
12 Oct 2017HydraNot observable
14 Oct 2017HydraNot observable
16 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
18 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
20 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
22 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
24 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
26 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
28 Oct 2017VirgoNot observable
30 Oct 2017LibraNot observable
01 Nov 2017LibraNot observable
03 Nov 2017LibraNot observable
05 Nov 2017LibraNot observable
07 Nov 2017LibraNot observable
09 Nov 2017LibraNot observable

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 13h19m30s 8°29'S Virgo 4.2

The coordinates are given in J2000.0.

The sky on 21 Oct 2017

The sky on 21 October 2017
Sunrise
07:09
Sunset
18:03
Twilight ends
19:35
Twilight begins
05:37

2-day old moon
Waxing Crescent

5%

2 days old

Planets
Rise Culm. Set
Mercury 07:56 13:08 18:21
Venus 05:30 11:26 17:22
Moon 08:43 14:09 19:30
Mars 04:42 10:50 16:58
Jupiter 07:30 12:53 18:16
Saturn 11:43 16:22 21:02
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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Fairfield

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Longitude:
Timezone:

41.14°N
73.26°W
EDT

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