Welcome to my Southern Comets Website
Welcome to my Southern Comets Website
Here you will find information, finder charts and images of
Comets - past, present and
future,
plus other astronomical observations of interest.
This page was last updated on
15-Sep-2026 and
includes an observing list for comets in 2026
Newcomers should read
this important
Guide to
Observing and Imaging Comets
Click on comets for observing guides, charts, images and
observations.
This website is updated periodically.
Also follow my "Southern Comets Homepage" on Facebook
where I
post regular updates, images and observations
of comets.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.mattiazzo2/
You do not need to be a facebook subscriber
2026 comet observing planner, listing comets brighter than magnitude 14.
These are predicted magnitudes. Comets can appear significantly brighter or
fainter than listed.
The lower the number, the
brighter the comet.
Typically naked eye comets are brighter than mag 6,
binocular comets are mag
6-9, telescopic comets are fainter than mag 9
Yellow indicates visibility restricted to northern hemisphere.
Blue
indicates visibility restricted to southern hemisphere.
Red indicates comet in solar conjunction.
Orange indicates comet in twilight.
In 2026, potential naked eye comets include C/2026 A1
MAPS in April and C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS during Late April- early
May.
Binocular comets include C/2024 E1 Weirzchos in January, 24P Schaumasse in January, 88P Howell in April, 10P
Tempel 2 in August
and 161P Hartley-IRAS in November.
Of course, there will be new discoveries during 2026, which will be added to the
list.
CURRENT COMETS
10P Tempel - Peaked at
magnitude 7.5 in August 2026
220P McNaught - megaoutbursting
comet!
161P Hartley-IRAS - reaches
magnitude 9 in November 2026 (possible outbursting comet)
Future comets
2P Encke - reaches magnitude 7 in February 2027
C/2026 C1 Tsuchinshan - reaches magnitude 4 in November 2028
ANIMATIONS
Aurora
Australis 2025 Nov 12
AURORA AUSTRALIS in 2024
C/2025 A6 Lemmon animations page
C/2024 G3 ATLAS
animations page
C/2023 A3
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS animations page.
RECENT BRIGHT COMETS
C/2024 G3 ATLAS
This splendid comet peaked at magnitude -4 in mid-January 2025
C/2024 G3 ATLAS at its finest on the evening of 2025 January 22,
It appeared as a headless comet with a tail visible to the unaided eye at
least 15 degrees in length arcing towards the east,
its brightness comparable to that of a second magnitude star. The tail
displayed striations through binoculars and photos.
These synchrones are created from timed releases of dust from the nucleus.
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
This fine comet peaked at -3 magnitude
on
2024 October 9.
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on 2024 October 19
To the naked eye, the comet appeared of corrected magnitude 3.7 with a
naked eye tail 15 degrees long in PA 73, towards Alpha and Beta Ophiuchii.
An estimate using 8x40mm binoculars was 3.9 (corrected for atmospheric
extinction) with a moderately condensed 10' coma and 18 degree dust tail in
PA 73.
comet altitude 6 degrees.
comp stars lambda oph 4.2, sigma serpensis 4.8.
no moon
12P
Pons-Brooks
This "once in a lifetime" Halley type comet (71 year orbit) reached 4th
magnitude in April 2024.
In March 2024, I presented a talk "All About Comets", discussing
what they are,
as well as prospects for the bright comets in 2024.
(12P Pons-Brooks and
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
In October 2025, i presented a talk on "Comet Hunting through the ages"
refer to the Astronomical Society of South Australia Youtube channel for a link to the lecture.
Other Highly Recommended Sources of Comet Information
Gideon van Buitenen's
website http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comets
listing all comets that are expected to become brighter than magnitude 15 in
the coming 3 months
Weekly comet information
by Seiichi Yoshida
http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html
providing the most accurate and up to date light curve analysis of all
comets down to magnitude 18
COBS website provides up to date magnitude estimates of comets
https://cobs.si
The Sky Live. This page provides a comprehensive list of the bright
comets currently visible in the sky.
This list is updated with new information several times per day
https://theskylive.com/comets
GREAT COMETS
What a privilege it is to observe a great comet.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_comet
They are one of natures finest sights in the night sky.
On average, a Great Comet is seen about once every 10 years.
I have a tally of 4, since I began observing comets in 1986..
Click on links for photos and information.
C/1996 B2 Hyakutake
(Great comet of 1996)
C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp
(Great comet of 1997)
C/2006 P1 McNaught
(Great comet of 2007)
C/2011 W3 Lovejoy
(Great comet of 2011)
Splendid comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS in January 2025 fell just short of great status.
THE DOUBLE COMET SHOW OF MARCH 2013
Was one of my lifetime observing
highlights when
2 fine comets
C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS and C/2012 F6 Lemmon
were simultaneously visible to the unaided eye, during the evenings of
early March 2013
Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon at top left, comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS at lower right
in twilight
A good comparison between a dusty comet vs a gassy comet.
Comet C/2011 L4
PANSTARRS page
Comet C/2012 F6
Lemmon page
Send comments to Michael Mattiazzo : mmatti
at westnet dot com dot au
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