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°57'	14.3°	93.7°	234°
Today	29 Jan 2026	38.0	18.374 AU	18.930 AU	18h18m	-66°39'	54.4°	2.5°	225°

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)                : 1.0110300
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0333630
    i (Inclination)                 : 72.36460
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 71.40600
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 57.57890
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 96.90706
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 53.55809
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460024.89680

    Epoch                           : 2026 Jan 28
    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
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   18 17 34.3   -66 37 32    18.945   18.377   53.5    2.5   224   38.0 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   18 18 00.9   -66 38 40    18.937   18.376   54.0    2.5   225   38.0 
2026-01-29 18:07 UT   18 18 20.8   -66 39 32    18.930   18.374   54.4    2.5   225   38.0 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   18 18 27.2   -66 39 49    18.928   18.374   54.6    2.5   225   38.0 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   18 18 53.3   -66 41 01    18.919   18.373   55.1    2.5   226   38.0 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   18 19 19.2   -66 42 14    18.909   18.371   55.6    2.5   227   38.0 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   18 19 44.8   -66 43 29    18.900   18.369   56.2    2.6   228   38.0 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   18 20 10.1   -66 44 45    18.890   18.368   56.8    2.6   229   38.0 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   18 20 35.1   -66 46 03    18.880   18.366   57.3    2.6   230   38.0 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   18 20 59.9   -66 47 22    18.869   18.364   57.9    2.6   231   38.0 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   18 21 24.3   -66 48 43    18.858   18.362   58.5    2.6   232   38.0 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   18 21 48.5   -66 50 06    18.847   18.360   59.1    2.6   232   38.0 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   18 22 12.4   -66 51 30    18.836   18.357   59.6    2.7   233   38.0 

    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.