Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2017 Aug. 26: South)

Japanese version Home page	Updated on August 29, 2017
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Best time and the azimuth, altitude (A,h) are at lat. 35 deg in the Southern Hemisphere. Azimuth indicates 0 for south, 90 for west, 180 for north, 270 for east.

C/2017 O1 ( ASASSN ) New bright comet discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASASSN). Now it is bright as 8.7 mag (Aug. 25, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It is expected to brighten up to 7.5 mag in October. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays observable in excellent condition for a long time. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is observable in good condition now. But it will be getting lower in September, and it will be unobservable for a long time after October. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 3 32.76 5 17.4 1.138 1.651 100 9.0 5:03 (185, 50) Sept. 2 3 43.37 9 35.5 1.045 1.613 103 8.7 4:54 (182, 45) C/2015 V2 ( Johnson ) It brightened up to 7.1 mag from May to June (June 21, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Now it is fading. But it is bright as 10.3 mag still now (Aug. 23, Chris Wyatt). In the Southern Hemisphere, it is observable in good condition after this. It will never be observable again in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 15 1.64 -42 39.5 1.745 1.913 83 9.7 19:00 ( 63, 62) Sept. 2 15 14.68 -45 0.4 1.860 1.961 80 10.0 19:05 ( 59, 59) C/2015 ER61 ( PanSTARRS ) It brightened up to 6.2 mag in April (Apr. 7, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Now it is fading. But it is bright as 10.7 mag still now (Aug. 12, Seiichi Yoshida). It stays observable for a long time after this. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 3 54.03 23 29.3 1.678 1.980 91 10.6 5:03 (189, 31) Sept. 2 3 57.35 23 28.8 1.674 2.063 97 10.8 4:54 (185, 31) 71P/Clark Now it is bright as 10.9 mag (Aug. 10, Marco Goiato). It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It locates low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 17 47.29 -37 37.0 0.989 1.676 113 11.3 19:30 ( 0, 87) Sept. 2 18 3.57 -37 20.9 1.056 1.698 110 11.5 19:18 ( 0, 88) 217P/LINEAR Now it is bright as 12.2 mag (Aug. 21, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It stays 12 mag until September. In the Southern Hemisphere, it stays at the same altitude in the morning sky. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will be getting higher slowly. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 6 5.06 12 2.1 1.470 1.338 62 11.8 5:03 (228, 29) Sept. 2 6 24.72 11 57.6 1.477 1.374 63 11.9 4:54 (228, 29) C/2016 R2 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 13.9 mag (Aug. 13, Thomas Lehmann). It will stay bright as 10 mag for a long time from autum to next spring. In the Southern Hemisphere, it stays observable in good condition until next February. In the Northern Hemispehre, it stays observable for a long time after this until the comet fades out. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 5 20.32 -3 32.8 3.823 3.703 75 12.6 5:03 (229, 48) Sept. 2 5 24.69 -3 14.3 3.685 3.655 80 12.5 4:54 (224, 50) 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 Outburst occured on Aug. 27. Now it is very bright as 12.0 mag (Aug. 27, Luc Arnold). Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 21 16.18 -14 20.7 4.844 5.823 164 13.2 22:56 (180, 69) Sept. 2 21 13.20 -14 28.9 4.881 5.822 156 13.2 22:26 (180, 69) C/2015 VL62 ( Lemmon-Yeung-PanSTARRS ) Now it is 12.3 mag (Aug. 16, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It is observable at 13-14 mag in good condition until autumn. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 21 15.13 2 45.6 1.751 2.720 159 13.4 22:53 (180, 52) Sept. 2 20 49.91 -0 15.2 1.797 2.721 150 13.5 22:01 (180, 55) 213P/Van Ness Now it is bright as 13.5 mag (Aug. 14, Chris Wyatt). It was expected to brighten up to 12 mag in summer. But actually, it is fainter than expected. It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It locates somewhat low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 18 50.67 -24 56.3 1.202 1.997 128 13.4 20:32 (180, 80) Sept. 2 18 54.38 -23 56.7 1.254 1.991 122 13.4 20:08 (180, 79) C/2016 N4 ( MASTER ) Now it is 14.8 mag (Aug. 21, Gabor Santa). In the Northern Hemisphere, it will brighten up to 14 mag from summer to winter, and it will be observable in excellent condition. It is not observable at all after this in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 23 53.96 64 57.1 2.832 3.206 102 13.8 1:39 (180,-10) Sept. 2 23 32.31 67 11.8 2.800 3.202 104 13.8 0:50 (180,-12) C/2015 O1 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 14.1 mag (Aug. 14, Chris Wyatt). It will be observable at 14 mag for a long time from 2017 to 2018. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 16 18.11 22 8.8 3.989 4.045 85 14.6 19:00 (163, 31) Sept. 2 16 13.96 21 39.9 4.071 4.022 80 14.6 19:05 (154, 29) 65P/Gunn Now it is 14.1 mag (June 30, Chris Wyatt). It stays 14 mag from spring to summer. It locates somewhat low in the Northern Hemisphere. The perihelion distance increased from 2.4 a.u. to 2.9 a.u. in this apparition. So it will not be bright as before. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 16 3.09 -24 28.8 2.727 2.922 90 14.6 19:00 (117, 71) Sept. 2 16 9.88 -24 53.7 2.816 2.919 85 14.6 19:05 (108, 66) 96P/Machholz 1 Now it is 17.5 mag (Aug. 6, Jean-Francois Soulier). It will pass the perihelion on Oct. 27. In the Southern Hemisphere, it stays observable while the comet will be brightening, until early October when the comet will brighten up to 9 mag. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is not observable at all in this apparition. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 14 23.76 -72 49.7 1.104 1.522 91 15.1 19:00 ( 18, 46) Sept. 2 14 4.81 -68 15.0 1.092 1.407 83 14.7 19:05 ( 26, 44) P/2017 M2 ( LINEAR-NEAT ) Now it is 18.8 mag (Aug. 2, Mike Olason). Return of a new periodic comet which brightened up to 13 mag in 2004. It will be observable in excellent condition in autumn. It is expected to brighten up to 14 mag, if the comet is as bright as when it was discovered. But actually, it is not brightening as expected. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 2 23.50 -0 34.7 1.053 1.772 118 14.9 4:07 (180, 56) Sept. 2 2 31.22 0 12.1 0.992 1.757 122 14.7 3:47 (180, 55) C/2016 M1 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 14.7 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). It is expected to brighten up to 9 mag in summer in 2018. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays observable until 2018 summer while the comet will be brightening. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is hardly observable in 2017, but it will be observable in good condition in 2018. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 17 5.61 40 19.8 4.175 4.329 91 15.0 19:00 (177, 15) Sept. 2 17 3.84 38 9.9 4.171 4.272 88 15.0 19:05 (170, 16) C/2016 N6 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 15.0 mag (Aug. 18, Gabor Santa). It is expected to brighten up to 11-12 mag from 2018 to 2019. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays observable in good condition while the comet will be brightening gradually. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is not observable until 2018 October. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 14 58.06 54 39.7 4.459 4.218 69 15.1 19:00 (160, -5) Sept. 2 14 55.29 53 32.3 4.447 4.168 67 15.0 19:05 (155, -6) 240P/NEAT Although it was faint as 17.7 mag in July (July 8, ATLAS-MLO, Mauna Loa), now it is very bright as 13.8 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It stays low for a while in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 0 44.02 -33 6.5 2.031 2.878 139 15.3 2:28 (180, 88) Sept. 2 0 40.86 -34 6.5 1.979 2.847 142 15.1 1:57 (180, 89) C/2015 V1 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 15.3 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). It stays observable at 16 mag for a long time from 2017 to 2018. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 2 28.74 28 21.5 3.947 4.370 108 15.4 4:12 (180, 27) Sept. 2 2 22.42 27 30.2 3.814 4.358 116 15.3 3:39 (180, 27) C/2011 KP36 ( Spacewatch ) Now it is 15.4 mag (Aug. 19, Gabor Santa). It stays observable at 16 mag unil the end of 2017. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 3 36.61 3 38.4 5.613 5.868 99 15.4 5:03 (187, 51) Sept. 2 3 38.08 3 17.9 5.538 5.895 105 15.4 4:54 (180, 52) C/2017 K6 ( Jacques ) Now it is 17.0 mag (May 29, iTelescope Observatory, Siding Spring). It will brighten up to 14.5 mag in winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, it stays observable in excellent condition until spring in 2018. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays unobservable until 2018. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 3 1.46 -78 5.0 2.084 2.530 104 15.6 4:43 ( 0, 47) Sept. 2 3 17.12 -78 59.6 2.068 2.482 101 15.5 4:31 ( 0, 46) 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson Now it is 16.5 mag (July 26, Toshiyuki Takahashi). It was observed at 17 mag in 2016. In 2017, it will be observable at 15.5 mag in good condition from summer to autumn. It is fainter than this ephemeris recently. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 1 44.12 15 44.5 2.176 2.853 122 15.7 3:28 (180, 39) Sept. 2 1 43.45 16 21.5 2.110 2.859 129 15.6 3:00 (180, 39) 352P/2017 L1 ( Skiff ) First return of a new periodic comet discovered in 2000. Now it is 17.3 mag (July 17, Mike Olason). It will brighten rapidly, and it is expected to be observable at 15.5 mag in good condition from July to September. But actually, it is fainter than this ephemeris. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 1 16.34 -8 53.9 1.770 2.596 136 15.7 3:00 (180, 64) Sept. 2 1 13.83 -8 33.1 1.731 2.609 142 15.8 2:30 (180, 63) C/2017 K4 ( ATLAS ) Now it is 15.7 mag (July 18, Ken-ichi Kadota). It stays 16 mag for a long time until summer in 2018. In the Southern Hemisphere, it stays observable in excellent condition until autumn. It locates low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 16 55.38 -30 30.2 2.572 2.969 103 15.8 19:00 (131, 83) Sept. 2 17 1.22 -29 51.3 2.629 2.939 97 15.8 19:05 (113, 78) 24P/Schaumasse Now it is 19.0 mag (July 26, Jean-Gabriel Bosch). It will brighten very rapidly, and brighten up to 10 mag from October to December. It is observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates very low for a long time in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 6 49.48 21 41.1 2.022 1.597 51 16.7 5:03 (230, 15) Sept. 2 7 13.56 21 43.8 1.936 1.544 52 15.9 4:54 (231, 14) 145P/Shoemaker-Levy 5 Now it is 16.0 mag (Aug. 19, Gabor Santa). It will brighten rapidly, up to 15 mag in autumn, and will be observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 4 16.28 23 0.4 1.678 1.905 86 16.2 5:03 (195, 30) Sept. 2 4 29.64 24 19.9 1.615 1.904 89 16.1 4:54 (193, 29) C/2014 OE4 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 16.0 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). It stays 16 mag from 2016 to 2017. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays observable in good condition for a long time. In the Southern Hemisphere, it will never be observable again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 17 47.46 64 47.4 6.418 6.490 89 16.5 19:27 (180,-10) Sept. 2 17 46.68 64 18.5 6.435 6.504 89 16.6 19:05 (179, -9) C/2017 D2 ( Barros ) Now it is 15.6 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). It will brighten up to 16 mag in summer. It will be observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It will be getting higher gradually in the morning sky also in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 21 20.24 -25 3.3 1.555 2.528 159 16.6 23:00 (180, 80) Sept. 2 21 14.72 -23 11.3 1.599 2.543 153 16.7 22:27 (180, 78) (457175) 2008 GO98 Hilda-type minor planet, but the cometary activity was detected on July 3. Now it is bright as 16.5 mag (July 3, G. J. Leonard). Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 20 59.41 0 38.8 2.448 3.403 157 16.8 22:40 (180, 54) Sept. 2 20 56.12 -0 9.3 2.497 3.420 151 16.8 22:09 (180, 55) 189P/NEAT Now it is 19.3 mag (Aug. 23, Michael Jager). It brightens up to 16.5-17 mag in August, and it will be observable in good condition. But actually, it is much fainter than this ephemeris. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 17 37.85 7 40.6 0.468 1.237 107 16.9 19:20 (180, 47) Sept. 2 18 1.33 10 22.8 0.506 1.255 107 17.0 19:16 (180, 44) (944) Hidalgo Now it is 17.9 mag (June 2, MASTER-OAFA Observatory). It will brighten up to 14 mag from autumn to winter in 2018, and it will be observable in excellent condition in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2017, it is observable at 17 mag in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 0 8.67 -45 33.9 3.323 4.128 137 17.1 1:53 ( 0, 80) Sept. 2 0 1.64 -45 59.7 3.275 4.086 138 17.1 1:18 ( 0, 79) C/2017 M4 ( ATLAS ) Now it is 17.4 mag (July 20, Yuji Ohshima). It is expected to brighten up to 13-14 mag from 2018 to 2019. In the Northern Hemisphere, it stays observable in good condition for a long time. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is not observable until summer in 2018. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 19 7.28 67 5.5 5.435 5.616 95 17.2 20:46 (180,-12) Sept. 2 18 55.46 65 40.7 5.383 5.569 95 17.1 20:07 (180,-11) C/2010 U3 ( Boattini ) It will pass the perihelion in 2019. However, it has not been brightening since the discovery in 2010. It will be getting higher gradually in the morning sky in the Northern Hemisphere. It is not observable for a long time in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 6 24.02 65 56.1 9.374 9.043 67 17.1 5:03 (198,-17) Sept. 2 6 30.60 66 30.8 9.285 9.029 72 17.1 4:54 (197,-17) 62P/Tsuchinshan 1 Now it is 18.5 mag (Aug. 13, Francois Kugel). It brightens rapidly, and brightens up to 11 mag from autumn to winter. It is observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 6 25.98 19 51.2 1.976 1.653 56 17.5 5:03 (226, 20) Sept. 2 6 48.08 19 58.3 1.898 1.614 58 17.1 4:54 (227, 19) 130P/McNaught-Hughes Now it is 17.9 mag (May 27, T. Ikemura, H. Sato). It will be brightening slowly until autumn when it becomes 16.5-17 mag. It will be getting lower gradually in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 14 57.58 -17 11.3 2.251 2.203 74 17.3 19:00 (110, 54) Sept. 2 15 8.00 -18 8.3 2.298 2.173 70 17.2 19:05 (104, 50) 81P/Wild 2 It brightened up to 11 mag from spring to summer in 2016. Now it is 17.4 mag (July 14, Ken-ichi Kadota). It stays observable for a long time after this, but it will be fainter than 18 mag in October. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 19 33.54 -20 41.9 2.708 3.534 139 17.2 21:14 (180, 76) Sept. 2 19 31.40 -20 52.0 2.815 3.567 131 17.4 20:45 (180, 76) 90P/Gehrels 1 Now it is 18.0 mag (Aug. 22, Kunihiro Shima). In the Northern Hemisphere, it will be observable at 17 mag in excellent condition from autumn to winter. It locates low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 5 0.81 29 23.9 3.098 3.014 75 17.5 5:03 (204, 21) Sept. 2 5 9.22 29 57.7 3.018 3.022 80 17.4 4:54 (201, 22) 188P/LINEAR-Mueller It was observed at 17 mag in 2016. It stays 17 mag also in 2017. It is observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates very low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 6 16.97 32 25.4 3.245 2.868 59 17.4 5:03 (217, 11) Sept. 2 6 27.61 32 37.8 3.185 2.888 63 17.4 4:54 (215, 12) 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 It brightened up to 11.5 mag from late March to early April (Mar. 24, Andrew Pearce). Now it is fading. It has already faded down to 17.3 mag (Aug. 24, Michael Jager). Bright 12-mag new fragment BT was discovered on Feb. 10, but now it is faint as 18.9 mag (June 2, CAO, San Pedro de Atacama). It will be fainter than 18 mag in September. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 3 14.57 6 47.3 1.715 2.196 104 17.7 4:58 (180, 48) Sept. 2 3 14.37 6 36.0 1.686 2.255 111 17.8 4:30 (180, 48) 2016 ND21 Peculiar asteroid moving along a comet-like orbit. It is observable at 18 mag in good condition from August to September. It locates somewhat low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 22 35.08 17 52.4 2.846 3.764 151 17.8 0:19 (180, 37) Sept. 2 22 31.10 17 57.2 2.832 3.764 153 17.7 23:43 (180, 37) C/2017 E1 ( Borisov ) It brightened up to 11 mag from March to April. Now it is fading. It has faded down to 12.7 mag in late May (May 26, iTelescope Observatory, Siding Spring). No observations have been reported after that. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 4 21.69 5 52.5 2.169 2.364 88 17.8 5:03 (203, 47) Sept. 2 4 24.32 5 13.8 2.162 2.451 94 18.0 4:54 (197, 48) C/2015 H2 ( PanSTARRS ) Now it is 18.3 mag (June 20, P. Camilleri, H. Williams). It stays observable at 18 mag from spring to summer. It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It locates low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 22 5.04 -33 53.8 4.690 5.630 156 17.9 23:45 (180, 89) Sept. 2 22 1.11 -33 37.9 4.741 5.655 152 17.9 23:14 (180, 89) 2P/Encke It brightened up to 7.2 mag in spring (Mar. 24, Marco Goiato). Now it is 16.9 mag (June 2, T. Ikemura, H. Sato). It will be fainter than 18 mag in late August. It is observable in good condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It locates low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Aug. 26 20 22.73 -26 16.5 1.577 2.495 148 17.9 22:03 (180, 81) Sept. 2 20 15.03 -26 5.8 1.696 2.554 140 18.2 21:28 (180, 81)