Bright comets in the coming 3 months
The below table lists all comets that are expected to become brighter than magnitude 15 in the coming 3 months.
For detailed information about a comet, click on its designation.
| Comet(s) |
Today |
Perihelion |
Nearest approach |
| designation |
magn |
delta |
radius |
date |
magn |
radius |
date |
magn |
delta |
C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) | 4.0 | 0.61 AU | 0.50 AU | 19 Apr 2026 | 3.8 | 0.50 AU | 26 Apr 2026 | 1.3 | 0.49 AU | C/2026 A1 (MAPS) | disintegrated | 1.22 AU | 0.65 AU | 4 Apr 2026 | - | 0.01 AU | 5 Apr 2026 | - | 0.96 AU | 141P/Machholz | 10.5 | 1.81 AU | 0.81 AU | 22 Apr 2026 | 10.5 | 0.81 AU | 22 Apr 2026 | 10.5 | 1.81 AU | 141P-A/Machholz | 10.5 | 1.81 AU | 0.81 AU | 23 Apr 2026 | 10.5 | 0.81 AU | 24 Apr 2026 | 10.5 | 1.80 AU | 88P/Howell | 10.7 | 1.96 AU | 1.40 AU | 18 Mar 2026 | 10.5 | 1.36 AU | 10 Oct 2026 | 14.6 | 1.50 AU | C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) | 12.3 | 2.09 AU | 2.82 AU | 8 Nov 2025 | 4.7 | 0.53 AU | 21 Oct 2025 | 4.3 | 0.60 AU | 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | 12.3 | 5.53 AU | 6.31 AU | 23 Apr 2019 | 12.4 | 5.80 AU | 9 Sep 2018 | 11.7 | 4.81 AU | C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) | disintegrated | 2.22 AU | 1.78 AU | 20 Jan 2026 | 7.2 | 0.57 AU | 17 Feb 2026 | 8.0 | 1.01 AU | 24P/Schaumasse | 13.3 | 0.76 AU | 1.73 AU | 8 Jan 2026 | 9.7 | 1.18 AU | 4 Jan 2026 | 9.7 | 0.59 AU | C/2024 T5 (ATLAS) | 14.6 | 5.75 AU | 5.04 AU | 6 May 2027 | 12.5 | 3.84 AU | 24 Dec 2026 | 12.0 | 3.17 AU | C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) | 14.6 | 14.07 AU | 14.06 AU | 16 Jan 2031 | 12.1 | 10.96 AU | 5 Apr 2031 | 12.0 | 10.12 AU | 235P/LINEAR | 14.6 | 1.41 AU | 2.18 AU | 22 Dec 2025 | 15.4 | 1.98 AU | 19 May 2026 | 14.7 | 1.32 AU | C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) | 15.0 | 4.40 AU | 4.31 AU | 25 Nov 2026 | 14.3 | 3.87 AU | 25 Jul 2026 | 14.2 | 3.45 AU | C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) | 15.0 | 3.29 AU | 3.57 AU | 13 Apr 2026 | 15.1 | 3.57 AU | 12 Jun 2026 | 14.6 | 2.63 AU | 78P/Gehrels | 15.2 | 3.07 AU | 2.08 AU | 25 Jun 2026 | 14.7 | 2.00 AU | 31 Dec 2026 | 15.1 | 1.56 AU | 10P/Tempel | 17.5 | 1.22 AU | 1.78 AU | 2 Aug 2026 | 12.7 | 1.42 AU | 3 Aug 2026 | 12.7 | 0.41 AU | 169P/NEAT | 19.1 | 1.83 AU | 2.25 AU | 21 Sep 2026 | 13.9 | 0.60 AU | 11 Aug 2026 | 12.0 | 0.17 AU |
For each of the listed comets, the current position is plotted in the below all-sky chart:
Terminology:
delta: Distance between comet and earth in AU
radius: Distance between comet and sun in AU
magn: Magnitude (brightness) estimate
elong: Elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)
AU: Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
Perihelion: On this date the comet (or other type of body) is closest to the sun
Orbital elements provided by MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database).
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.
