Director: Nick James
Nov 22 Zhijian Xu reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Nov 22 Eryk Banach reports two Kreutz group comets in real time C2 images Nov 24 Mikolaj Kaszczyk reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Nov 25 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Nov 25 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Nov 29 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Nov 30 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Nov 30 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Nov 30 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 01 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Dec 01 Eryk Banach reports two Kreutz group comets in real time C2 images Dec 01 Zhijian Xu reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Dec 02 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 02 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 02 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Dec 03 Zesheng Yang reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 03 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 05 2014 K3 (P/SOHO) recovered in SOHO images Dec 06 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 06 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 08 Trygve Prestgard reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 08 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Dec 10 Discovery of 2024 W1 (PANSTARRS) reported Dec 12 Zhijian Xu reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Dec 18 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Dec 20 Discovery of 2024 X1 (Fazekas) reported Dec 21 Update
If there have been no recent updates try The German comet group page or Seiichi Yoshida's page for information or the Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomia for observations.
Comet Magnitude Trend Observable When visible Last visual observation 2024 G3 (ATLAS) 6.5 bright Poor elongation 2024 November 2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) 10.5 fade 75 N to 20 N early evening 2024 December 333P/LINEAR 12 fade 90 N to 5 S evening + morning 2024 December 13P/Olbers 12 ? fade Conjunction 2024 October 2022 E2 (ATLAS) 12.5 steady 90 N to 15 N all night 2024 December 12P/Pons-Brooks 13 fade Poor elongation 2024 September 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 13 ? varies 70 N to 40 S morning 2024 December 37P/Forbes 14 fade Poor elongation 2024 NovemberDetails are usually fully updated at the beginning of each month, but some minor updates may be made more frequently, particularly for brighter comets. The last (partial) update was on December 21. The magnitude is a rough value for the mean magnitude reported; some observers will see the comet brighter than this, whilst others will see it fainter. The observable region is an approximate indication of the latitude at which the comet may be seen. Under good conditions comets may be visible outside this range. The period when visible is for the UK if the comet is visible from the UK, otherwise for 30 S or the Equator as appropriate. The last visual observation is as received by the Section, details are often updated on the basis of observations published elsewhere. Beginners will often find comets fainter than about 7th magnitude difficult to locate - see below for information on positions and finder charts.
Light curves of comets that may become brighter than 9th magnitude [click on thumbnail to get the full scale image, updated on 2024 December 15]. The dotted lines represent 99% confidence limits. The fitted curves are for an aperture of 30 cm, so the comet will appear brighter to visual observers using a smaller aperture. 2024 G3
Comet magnitude parameters [ updated 2024 December 3].
Planning aids and information for forthcoming comets, valid out to about 2025.
The MPC also has a list of the last observation for all comets. Electronic observers should try and observe any comets that have not recently been observed according to the CBAT but which are expected to be within range of their equipment. Negative observations are also useful. In addition, the MPC has orbital elements for unusual asteroids, many of which have cometary orbits.
Download Richard Fleet's GraphDark software for graphically displaying comet (and other object) visibility. Latest version is 2.05, 2007 May.
Download William Schwittek's CometWin software for generating comet ephemerides and visibility diagrams. [Updated 2002 March 5]
Download Solex, N-body solar system dynamics software.
Visual and visual equivalent magnitude observations should be sent to me at <jds [at] ast.cam.ac.uk> in simple text format. Visual observers can use the BAA visual report form to log observations. To avoid the use of multiple formats the ICQ format , which uses special keys to code observation particulars, is now standardised as the one to use for submission and archiving of observations. The ICQ have not updated their observation keys since 2010, so these additional keys are suggested for use when submitting observations to the BAA (updated 2020 October 3). Crni Vhr Observatory has launched the Comet Observation Database which allows entry of observations in ICQ format, and plots of light curves. Visual observations entered using this system should be emailed to me at the end of the month. Observations are usually analysed and sent to TA as soon as possible after the end of the month with a TA deadline of the 2nd; any late observations will be used in subsequent analyses. Observations will continue to be published by Guy Hurst in The Astronomer magazine in TA format. There is also a visual drawing form. The German comet group also has a computer program that will correctly format observations for the ICQ [2009 December].
Images should be sent to Denis Buczynski.
Regular contributors include James Abbott, Jose Aguiar, Alexander Amorim, Nicolas Biver, Denis Buczynski, Paul Camilleri, Peter Carson, Matyas Csukas, Roger Dymock, John Fletcher, Marco Goiato, Juan Gonzalez, Bjorn Granslo, Werner Hasubick, Kevin Hills, Nick James, Heinz Kerner, Carlos Labordena, Rolando Ligustri, Michael Mattiazzo, Maik Mayer, Antonio Milani, Martin Mobberley, Giuseppe Pappa, Jose Navarro Pina, Gabriel Oksa, Mieczyslaw Paradowski, Nirmal Paul, Stuart Rae, Walter Robledo, Tony Scarmato, Willian Souza, David Strange, Johan Warrell, Chris Wyatt and Seiichi Yoshida, several of whom contribute observations from their colleagues. Thanks are due to all of them.
Warning I receive a large number of emails containing viruses or other junk. Please try and make clear that your message is legitimate, otherwise it may be deleted without being read. It is advisable to use your own name, rather than an alias, in the 'from' field and use an obvious, recent subject.
Many thanks to those that regularly access this page for your interest. If you have any comments, suggestions for improvement or find any problems, please email the visual co-ordinator, Jon Shanklin, at j.shanklin @ bas.ac.uk. If you need to phone me, my home number is +44 (0)1223 571250 or my BAS number is +44 (0)1223 221482. Snail mail will reach me at the British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, CAMBRIDGE CB3 0ET, England. For information about my work with BAS see my web page at BAS. There is a small piece of Antarctica named as Shanklin Glacier. See also this BBC report. Exploration of icy parts of the world clearly runs in the blood as my great-grandfather kept diaries which record the passage of a comet below the Plough, the discovery of a comet by his brother, Bernard Thomas, from Tasmania and the expeditions to Antarctica by Scott and Shackleton. A write up of my George Alcock lecture, which tells a little of the Antarctic story was published in the 2021 October BAA Journal.