Next naked eye comet?

[Jonk]

Now that C67P is on its way back out (I didn't get to see it at perihelion sadly), when's the next 'awesome to look at' comet due?

Is there a simple website showing this that people recommend?

I'm not able to search at the moment and thought it easier to ask!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

This is probably the handiest site:

http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/

[Knight of Clear Skies]

We had a thread about Catalina recently, I believe it's projected to reach or near naked-eye visibility.

[pixelsaurus]

Not all comets have a Northern Hemisphere origin http://members.westnet.com.au/mmatti/sc.htm

[Dave]

Catalina should be around 4th or 5th magnitude in December into January.
It will be fairly high up, coming northwards past Arcturus and up past The Plough.
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2013US10/2013US10.html

It's giving a reasonable show in the southern hemisphere already, and will get brighter.
Should be another good one.

[Pete Presland]

Looking forward to it, but not too much ;-)

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[laudropb]

Let's hope it lives up to expectations.

[Dave In Vermont]

When I use the Search function in The SkyX, I get this - saying it's 1995 Hale-Bopp:

Object Name: C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)
Object Type: Comet
RA (Topocentric): 01h 04m 05s
Dec (Topocentric): -86° 44' 04"
RA (2000.0): 01h 04m 54s
Dec (2000.0): -86° 49' 17"
Azimuth: 184° 29' 02"
Altitude: -45° 14' 08"
Magnitude: 21.59
Transit Time: 03:40
Hour Angle: 06h 59m 34s
Air Mass: (below horizon)
Earth Distance (au): 37.20
Sun Distance (au): 37.44
RA Rate (arcsecs/sec): -0.087627
Dec Rate (arcsecs/sec): 0.040613
Rise/Set Notes: Always below horizon.
Date: 8/26/2015
Time: 10:38:23 AM DST
Constellation: Octans
Constellation (Abbrev.): Oct
Screen X: 624.50
Screen Y: 295.50
Comet Perihelion Month: 11
Comet Perihelion Day: 15.7200
Comet Perihelion Year: 2015
Comet Eccentricity: 1.0003
Comet Perihelion Distance: 0.8230
Comet Inclination: 148.8787
Comet Long. of the Asc. Node: 186.1446
Comet Longitude of Perihelion: 340.3599
Comet Ecliptic: 1.0000
Comet Magnitude 1: 4.4000
Comet Magnitude 2: 10.0000
Heliocentric Longitude: 1.4°
Heliocentric Latitude: -1.2°
Heliocentric Radius: 37.4357
Sidereal Time: 08:04
Julian Date: 2457261.10999890
Click Distance: 0.0000
Celestial Type: 36
Index: 0
Text Record Start: 0
Constellation Number: 57
 

Any clues?

<shaking head (rattle, rattle)>

Dave

[bejay1957]

True naked eye comets - at least as far as MOPs might perceive them - have been few and far between.  I think Kohoutek in 1973 must have been the first in the line of disappointments during my many years of interest - still recall setting up my 3" refractor night after night with no success, kinda embarrassing with neighbors gathering round for a (no) look

[Dave]

The comet we are expecting is: C/2013 US10 ( Catalina ).

We almost treat them as if they are there for our enjoyment.
Although the bright ones are spectacular, they are sadly few and far between.
But when they do pop up...

Mind you, the fainter ones can have extremely interesting behaviours at times.

It looks like 141P Machholz is undergoing major changes right now.

Dave

[damnut]

Thanks for posting all the links folks, all we need now is some clear autumnal skies....

[LukeSkywatcher]

In a way, i kind of wish i'd never seen Hale-Bopp because its the mile stone for me for all comets to live up to. None since have even come close to it. Faint diffuse smudges of green is what ive seen on a couple of nights when looking at comets.

[Paul M]

I don't keep a log and have a dreadful memory, and I don't keep a log...

Anyway, I recon I've seen quite a few naked eye comets. Not spectacular but naked eye nonetheless.

There have been a good number of sunset comets . I remember one, in the 90's probably, that had a huge sweeping tail rising above the westerly horizon after sunset.

As a guess there must have been perhaps 10 or 15 "easy" naked eye comets that I've seen in some 40 odd years of sky watching.

There will have been others that I never managed or didn't try.

So perhaps one comes along every 3 or 4 years that would be visible in my sky.

But I guess we really want "spectacular!", not just naked eye.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[MarkRadice]

My journal (with lengthy gaps after arrival of noise machines) shows the following (northern hemisphere) naked eye intruders: Comet Hyaktake (sp?) in 1996, Hale-Bopp in 1997 and then comet Holmes in 2007.

I can't  wait for the next one!

[pixelsaurus]

McNaught in 2007 is my benchmark. Pity the weather at the time was rubbish and I only saw it 4x over a 6 week period.

[egris]

http://freestarcharts.com/19-news-and-current-events/435-comet-catalina-c-2013-us10-remains-visible-in-the-evening-from-southern-and-equatorial-latitudes-during-september-2015

Catalina continues to brighten slowly. Now about mag. 6.3 currently visible early evening from tropics and SH but not NH.

Should reach naked eye visiblity in October and visible from northern lats in November.

[Stub Mandrel]

I can't beklieve I never got a picture of Hale-Bopp or pointed a scope at it :-(

[fondofchips]

You can add comets to Stellarium, how to guide here, this one is for Comet Ison but just select the object you want from the list when you have downloaded it  -  http://www.wikihow.com/Add-Comet-ISON-to-Stellarium

Correct names/numbers for the comets here -http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/

That is the same site as Mike has recommended above, I've just added it here for convenience.

Clear Skies,

Fondofchips.

[Stub Mandrel]

I see Catalina should be more or less at the tail of the Great Bear around 10 January which should make it easy to spot and near its maximum.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

I see Catalina should be more or less at the tail of the Great Bear around 10 January which should make it easy to spot and near its maximum.

Could make a nice wide view image,if it reaches any sort of decent brightness.

[Vega]

Only a month to go. Sounds like Comet Catalina will be a bit tricky to observe until December. It certainly wont stop me from trying though!

[LukeSkywatcher]

About 12-16 months ago i heard that there should be a pretty good naked eye comet in our skies around the end of 2015. Would this be Catalina?. 

For me personally the next big event is the Geminid meteor shower in about 8 wks time. 

[nytecam]

Stick around long enough in the hobby and you're sure to get lucky:-) My first with a pic too on phortofilm was Comet Mrkos 1957 and 6 or 7 since with best (even seen from lying in bed!) were Hale Bopp and Hyakutake.

Use HeavenAbove for current comets with star maps. Although none currently naked eye many can be captured in a few seconds camera exposure which suits me till the big one comes along:-)

Nytecam

[Stub Mandrel]

MI hugely regret not photo graphing Hale Bopp - at teh time it was 'I suppose it will still there tomorrow...'

[Ptarmigan]

For me personally the next big event is the Geminid meteor shower in about 8 wks time. 

I am curious, why the Geminids ? Why not the Leonids in about 5wks, I was lucky to catch a storm of them a few years back but I dont know (not yet looked) what the omens are for this year's Leonids.

Are the Geminids up for something good ??

Sorry OP for the deviation