C/2023 F2 (SOHO)
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Perihelion	21 Mar 2023	4.2	0.033 AU	0.995 AU	00h02m	+01°56'	1.9°	91.5°	14°
Nearest approach	25 Mar 2023	12.8	0.247 AU	0.950 AU	23h29m	-06°58'	14.3°	93.7°	233°
Today	1 Mar 2026	38.0	18.285 AU	18.539 AU	18h29m	-67°28'	73.7°	3.0°	249°

This comet is a sunskirter. Although it may become very bright at perihelion, this will only be for a very short period very close to the sun.

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 19.0 + 5 log[∆] + 10.0 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)

Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2023 F2 (SOHO) are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0110170
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0333250
    i (Inclination)                 : 72.34320
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 71.38140
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 57.58080
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 96.91024
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 53.55050
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460024.91310

    Epoch                           : 2026 Mar 01
    Reference                       : MPEC 2023-N01

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU); Sunskirter; Meyer

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   18 28 55.6   -67 24 43    18.568   18.293   72.4    3.0   248   38.0 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   18 29 11.6   -67 26 37    18.552   18.289   73.1    3.0   249   38.0 
2026-03-01 19:43 UT   18 29 24.4   -67 28 11    18.539   18.285   73.7    3.0   249   38.0 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   18 29 27.1   -67 28 32    18.536   18.284   73.8    3.0   250   38.0 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   18 29 42.2   -67 30 28    18.520   18.279   74.5    3.0   250   38.0 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   18 29 56.9   -67 32 25    18.504   18.275   75.2    3.0   251   38.0 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   18 30 11.0   -67 34 23    18.487   18.270   75.8    3.0   252   38.0 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   18 30 24.7   -67 36 23    18.471   18.265   76.5    3.0   252   37.9 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   18 30 38.0   -67 38 23    18.454   18.260   77.2    3.0   253   37.9 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   18 30 50.7   -67 40 25    18.437   18.255   77.9    3.0   254   37.9 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   18 31 03.0   -67 42 28    18.420   18.249   78.6    3.1   254   37.9 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   18 31 14.8   -67 44 31    18.403   18.244   79.3    3.1   255   37.9 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   18 31 26.1   -67 46 36    18.386   18.238   80.0    3.1   256   37.9 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km      
    

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.