Director: Nick James
Sep 03 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 04 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 04 Jiangao Ruan reports a Meyer comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 07 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 08 Discovery of 2026 P2 (PANSTARRS) reported Sep 09 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 11 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 13 A user reports a Meyer comet in archival C2 images Sep 15 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 15 Michael Stark reports a Kreutz comet in C3 images Sep 15 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 16 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 16 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 18 Discovery of 2026 R1 (P/PANSTARRS) reported Sep 19 PCCP Sar2913 linked to 2009 Y2 (P/Kowalski) Sep 20 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 21 Rainer Kracht reports a Meyer comet in C2 images Sep 23 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 24 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 25 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-1 images Sep 27 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 28 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz comet in CCOR-2 images Sep 28 Jiangao Ruan reports two Kreutz comets in CCOR-1 images Sep 30 Jiangao Ruan reports three Kreutz comets in CCOR-1 images Oct 01 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 10P/Tempel 10 fade 40 N to 75 S all night 2026 September C46K1R1 11 bright 75 N to 0 S evening Not yet observed ? 161P/Hartley-IRAS 11.5 bright 65 N to 70 S best evening 2026 September 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 13 ? varies Poor elongation 2026 May 169P/NEAT 13 fade Poor elongation Not yet observed 2024 T5 (ATLAS) 13.5 bright 35 N to 70 S morning 2026 July 220P/McNaught 14 fade 65 N to 50 S best morning 2026 September 69P/Taylor 14 ? bright 70 N to 45 S morning Not yet observed 34D/Gale ?? fade 30 N to 80 S evening Not observed since 1938Details 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 (full) update was on September 30. 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 by a visual observer. Under good conditions comets may be visible outside this range, especially when imaging. 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, none at present]. 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.
Planning aids and information for forthcoming comets, valid out to about 2035.
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 maintains the Comet Observation Database which allows entry of observations in ICQ format, and plots of light curves. Visual observations entered using this system are extracted for observers affiliated to the BAA. Observations are usually analysed and comet notes sent to TA as soon as possible after the end of the month with a TA deadline of the 6th; any late observations will be used in subsequent analyses. Raw observations are no longer published in The Astronomer magazine as they are available in the Comet Observation Database. Subjective data will continue to be published in TA. 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.