323P/SOHO
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Today	20 Jan 2025	21.0	1.407 AU	0.797 AU	12h58m	-07°59'	103.9°	42.7°	293°
Nearest approach	16 Feb 2025	15.9	0.880 AU	0.221 AU	18h14m	-29°04'	55.0°	113.1°	265°
Perihelion	14 Mar 2025	6.1	0.040 AU	1.026 AU	23h31m	-03°05'	1.3°	35.9°	246°

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.)

The orbital elements of 323P/SOHO are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.9846140
            q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0397590
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.32690
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 324.28030
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 353.12460
            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 317.43431
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.63678
            T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460748.79460
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.15

            Epoch                           : 2025 Jan 19
            Reference                       : MPEC 2023-XP6

            Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family; Sunskirter
            Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.259
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations respectively from COBS or the MPC. The light curve is based on the absolute magnitude and slope parameter as calculated from an MPEC, or the latest values provided by the minor planet center. (20.00 + 5 log[∆] + 10.00 log[r]). The additional green curve shows the effect of forward scattering, occurring when the comet is between the earth and the sun, for a gas-to-dust light ratio δ90 of 0.30. (See Marcus 2007)

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.
A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found further down this page as well.