Director: Nick James
Oct 06 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 06 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 07 Discovery of 2024 T1 (P/Rankin) reported Oct 08 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 08 Accidental recovery of 2010 A3 (P/Hill) Oct 11 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 12 Discovery of 2024 S2 (P/Rankin) Oct 12 Eryk Banach reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 13 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 14 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 17 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 18 Worachate Boonplod reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 19 Discovery of 2024 T2 (P/Rankin) reported Oct 19 Discovery of 2024 T3 (PanSTARRS) reported Oct 19 Zesheng Yang reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 22 Recovery of 2016 A2 (P/Christensen) as 2024 RU145 reported Oct 23 Recovery of 2011 UA134 (P/Spacewatch-PANSTARRS) as 2024 T4 reported Oct 23 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 26 Zhijian Xu reports a non group comet in real time C2 images Oct 27 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Oct 28 Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 28 Robert Pickard reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images Oct 31 Hanjie Tan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images Nov 02 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 2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) 7 fade 85 N to 45 S evening 2024 October 2024 G3 (ATLAS) 11.5 bright Poor elongation 2024 November 13P/Olbers 12 fade Poor elongation 2024 October 33P/Daniel 12 ? steady 90 S to 30 S best morning Not yet observed 12P/Pons-Brooks 12.5 fade Poor elongation 2024 September 2022 E2 (ATLAS) 13 bright 90 N to 5 S best morning 2024 October 2024 B1 (Lemmon) 13 ? fade 90 N to 50 N early morn/evening 2024 October 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 13 ? varies 70 N to 30 S morning 2024 April 333P/LINEAR 13 ? bright 60 N to 20 S early morning Not yet observed 2023 C2 (ATLAS) 14 fade 15 N to 50 S early morning 2024 AugustDetails 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 November 2. 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 November 2]. 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 November 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.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.