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°	233°
Today	12 Feb 2026	38.0	18.347 AU	18.781 AU	18h24m	-66°58'	62.6°	2.7°	237°

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)                : 1.0110240
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0333460
    i (Inclination)                 : 72.35530
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 71.39530
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 57.57960
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 96.90833
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 53.55469
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460024.90410

    Epoch                           : 2026 Feb 12
    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
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   18 23 22.0   -66 55 53    18.803   18.352   61.5    2.7   236   38.0 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   18 23 44.6   -66 57 23    18.791   18.349   62.1    2.7   236   38.0 
2026-02-12 18:58 UT   18 24 02.2   -66 58 35    18.781   18.347   62.6    2.7   237   38.0 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   18 24 06.8   -66 58 55    18.778   18.346   62.7    2.7   237   38.0 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   18 24 28.7   -67 00 28    18.766   18.343   63.3    2.8   238   38.0 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   18 24 50.3   -67 02 03    18.753   18.340   63.9    2.8   239   38.0 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   18 25 11.5   -67 03 39    18.740   18.337   64.6    2.8   240   38.0 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   18 25 32.3   -67 05 17    18.727   18.334   65.2    2.8   240   38.0 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   18 25 52.8   -67 06 56    18.713   18.331   65.8    2.8   241   38.0 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   18 26 12.9   -67 08 36    18.699   18.327   66.5    2.8   242   38.0 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 26 32.6   -67 10 18    18.685   18.324   67.1    2.8   242   38.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 26 51.9   -67 12 02    18.671   18.320   67.8    2.9   243   38.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 27 10.8   -67 13 47    18.657   18.316   68.4    2.9   244   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.