Comet 46P Wirtanen orbit from 1600 AD to 2500 AD. The orbit shown in the app on this page is only reasonably accurate for years 2000-2030. This is because 46P's orbit is very unstable. It will change significantly in 2054 when Jupiter will knock it into a very different orbit.

Browse and discover detailed information about 196 of the most interesting comets. Comets are listed in order of decreasing brightness.

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1. The trail of Comet Encke, which makes a complete orbit every 3.3 years, is extremely short-period but spread out in an eccentric ellipse that traces the comet’s orbital path.
2. Comets orbit the Sun just like planets and asteroids do, except a comet usually has a very elongated orbit. As the comet gets closer to the Sun, some of the ice starts to melt and boil off, along with particles of dust. These particles and gases make a cloud around the nucleus, called a.

= visible to the naked eye
= binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude

Comet C/2020 R4 (ATLAS)

R.A: 15h 31m 52s Dec: +31° 05’ 12”
Observed Magnitude 9.7 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 12.7 (JPL)
in Corona Borealis

Comet C/2020 T2 (Palomar)

R.A: 13h 49m 17s Dec: +33° 14’ 54”
Observed Magnitude 11.7 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.0 (JPL)
in Canes Venatici

Comet C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)

R.A: 03h 06m 01s Dec: +50° 47’ 58”
Observed Magnitude 12.4 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.6 (JPL)
in Perseus

Comet C/2021 D1 (SWAN)

R.A: 04h 25m 58s

Comet Orbital Elements

Dec: +34° 17’ 48”
Observed Magnitude 12.6 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 15.9 (JPL)
in Perseus

Comet C/2020 J1 (SONEAR)

R.A: 16h 22m 54s Dec: -35° 23’ 32”
Observed Magnitude 13.1 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 13.9 (JPL)
in Scorpius

Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

R.A: 18h 23m 28s Dec: +41° 35’ 17”
Observed Magnitude 13.8 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.9 (JPL)
in Lyra

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke

R.A: 19h 12m 11s Dec: +05° 29’ 53”
Observed Magnitude 14.0 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 15.0 (JPL)
in Aquila

Comet C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)

R.A: 08h 07m 53s Dec: -29° 56’ 01”
Observed Magnitude 14.1 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 15.4 (JPL)
in Puppis

Comet C/2019 N1 (ATLAS)

R.A: 04h 14m 34s Dec: -59° 35’ 51”
Observed Magnitude 14.2 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.8 (JPL)
in Reticulum

Comet 15P/Finlay

R.A: 21h 57m 29s Dec: -19° 46’ 42”
Observed Magnitude N.A. (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.3 (JPL)
in Capricornus

Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR

R.A: 06h 47m 55s Dec: +38° 41’ 10”
Observed Magnitude 14.7 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 20.2 (JPL)
in Auriga

Comet C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)

R.A: 20h 07m 21s Dec: -72° 34’ 16”
Observed Magnitude 14.8 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.7 (JPL)
in Pavo

Comet 246P/NEAT

R.A: 19h 21m 34s Dec: -25° 34’ 01”
Observed Magnitude 14.8 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 14.8 (JPL)
in Sagittarius

Comet C/2021 A4 (NEOWISE)

R.A: 04h 14m 07s Dec: -14° 12’ 02”
Observed Magnitude 14.9 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 18.1 (JPL)
in Eridanus

Comet 75D/Kohoutek (Lost)

R.A: 05h 38m 39s Dec: +21° 43’ 11”
Observed Magnitude N.A. (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 15.0 (JPL)
in Taurus

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER)

R.A: 23h 17m 08s Dec: -38° 03’ 48”

The Orbits Of Most Comets

Observed Magnitude 15.3 (COBS)

Comet Orbit Map

Estimated Magnitude 15.3 (JPL)
in Grus

Comet C/2020 H6 (ATLAS)

R.A: 14h 02m 06s Dec: -13° 30’ 21”
Observed Magnitude 15.3 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 16.5 (JPL)
in Virgo

Comet C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE)

R.A: 06h 59m 27s Dec: -18° 32’ 22”
Observed Magnitude 15.6 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 16.8 (JPL)
in Canis Majoris

Comet C/2020 O2 (Amaral)

R.A: 17h 31m 13s Dec: -29° 40’ 06”
Observed Magnitude 15.7 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 16.8 (JPL)
in Ophiucus

Comet C/2020 S8 (Lemmon)

R.A: 14h 00m 09s Dec: +11° 54’ 06”
Observed Magnitude 15.7 (COBS)
Estimated Magnitude 16.3 (JPL)
in Bootes

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