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C/2018 W2 (Africano)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Perihelion6 Sep 201910.21.464 AU0.854 AU 02h47m+52°38'103.3°42.1°239°
Nearest approach27 Sep 20199.11.496 AU0.502 AU 23h56m+14°16'166.5°9.0°160°
Today11 Mar 202630.318.282 AU17.809 AU 12h31m-58°03'117.0°2.8°342°
C/2018 W2 (Africano)- 2026-03-11
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 8.5 + 5 log[∆] + 12.3 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/2018 W2 (Africano) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0009660
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.4639070
    i (Inclination)                 : 116.48880
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 182.05970
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 158.25690
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.14613
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.36329
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2458732.54710

    Epoch                           : 2026 Mar 11
    Reference                       : MPEC 2026-E44

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

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   12 31 58.6   -58 03 59    17.815   18.271  115.9    2.8   340   30.3 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   12 31 36.4   -58 03 51    17.811   18.277  116.5    2.8   341   30.3 
2026-03-11 20:14 UT   12 31 17.5   -58 03 41    17.809   18.282  117.0    2.8   342   30.3 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   12 31 14.0   -58 03 39    17.808   18.282  117.1    2.8   342   30.3 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   12 30 51.5   -58 03 24    17.805   18.288  117.6    2.8   343   30.3 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   12 30 28.9   -58 03 06    17.803   18.293  118.2    2.7   344   30.3 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   12 30 06.2   -58 02 45    17.800   18.299  118.7    2.7   345   30.3 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   12 29 43.4   -58 02 20    17.797   18.304  119.2    2.7   346   30.3 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   12 29 20.4   -58 01 53    17.795   18.310  119.8    2.7   347   30.3 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   12 28 57.4   -58 01 22    17.793   18.315  120.3    2.7   348   30.3 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   12 28 34.4   -58 00 48    17.791   18.321  120.8    2.7   350   30.3 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   12 28 11.3   -58 00 10    17.789   18.326  121.3    2.7   351   30.3 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   12 27 48.1   -57 59 30    17.787   18.332  121.8    2.6   352   30.3 




    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.

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