Director: Nick James
May 10 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 11 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 11 Worachate Boonplod reports a Meyer group comet in real time C2 images May 12 Masanori Uchina reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 13 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 14 Michal Biesiada reports a comet in real time C2 images May 15 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 15 Robert Pickard reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 16 Robert Pickard reports a Meyer group comet in real time C2 images May 16 Peter Berrett reports a non-group comet in archival C2 images May 22 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images May 22 Trygve Prestgard reports a non-group comet in real time C2 images May 27 Discovery of 2021 K1 (ATLAS) reported May 29 Cometary activity reported in 2020 PV6 (PanSTARRS) May 29 Robert Pickard reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images May 31 Recovery of 2009 U4 (P/McNaught) as 2020 H10 reported May 31 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Jun 02 Discovery of 2021 J1 (Maury-Attard) reported Jun 02 Discovery of 2021 J2 (PanSTARRS) reported Jun 03 Discovery of 2021 J3 (P/ATLAS) reported Jun 03 Rafal Biros reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Jun 03 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in delayed C2 images Jun 03 Trygve Prestgard reports a Kreutz group comet in archival C2 images Jun 04 Robert Pickard reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Jun 04 Masanori Uchina reports two Kreutz group comets in delayed C2 images Jun 09 Discovery of 2021 K2 (MASTER) reported Jun 09 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 2020 T2 (Palomar) 10.5 bright 50 N to 50 S all night 2021 June 7P/Pons-Winnecke 12 fade 40 N to 75 S morning 2021 June 15P/Finlay 12.5 bright 40 N to 75 S morning 2021 May 2019 L3 (ATLAS) 12.5 bright Poor elongation 2021 April 10P/Tempel 12.5 fade 5 N to 45 S early morning 2021 April 2020 R4 (ATLAS) 12.5 fade 50 N to 40 S early evening 2021 June 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 13 ? varies Poor elongation 2021 January 2020 J1 (SONEAR) 13 fade 50 N to 45 S all night 2021 June 2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) 13.5 bright 50 N to 15 S all night 2021 June 2019 T4 (ATLAS) 13.5 bright 5 N to 85 S evening Not yet observed 2019 N1 (ATLAS) 14 fade 40 S to 90 S dawn + dusk 2021 February 246P/NEAT 14 ? steady 30 N to 90 S best morning 2020 MayDetails are usually updated at the beginning of each month, but may be updated more frequently for brighter comets. The last update was on June 7. 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 40 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 10th magnitude (aperture corrected for potential naked eye comets) [click on thumbnail to get the full scale image, updated on 2020 December 2]. The dotted lines represent 99% confidence limits. None at present.
Comet magnitude parameters [ updated 2021 May 2].
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.com.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, Jose Navarro Pina, Gabriel Oksa, Mieczyslaw Paradowski, Nirmal Paul, Stuart Rae, Walter Robledo, Tony Scarmato, Willian Souza, David Strange Johan Warrell and Seiichi Yoshida, several of whom contribute observations from their colleagues. Thanks are due to all of them.
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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.