Last updated: November 20, 2008

Ephemerides for all of these comets (and many others) can be calculated at the IAU Minor Planet Center's web site. Recent reports of their brightness can be found at the ICQ's magnitude page, the Comet Observation Home Page [currently inactive] and the Yahoo! comet observations group. Discussions of these and other comets are carried out at the Yahoo! comets mailing list group, and links to images are at the Yahoo! comet images group. For basic comet observing information see the appropriate page at this web site.

NOTE ADDED NOVEMBER 21, 2007: There are numerous objects that are apparent asteroids but that travel in distinctly cometary orbits or are otherwise associated with cometary phenomena in some way, and it is entirely possible that these are extinct or dormant comets. When any of these come by I do attempt to observe them, but they are not eligible for adding to my comet tally unless observations show that they are indeed comets, in which case I'll add them to my list retroactively (as has happened once so far). This page will now include any such objects that I'm currently following at the time of any updates.

NOTE ADDED JULY 3, 2008: This page will now highlight in red print those comets that are 9th magnitude or brighter (and that are also easily accessible for observation) at the time of the update in question. Such comets should be detectable from suburban areas with small telescopes, and thus are those that are specifically recommended for "Countdown" participating students.

Comet McNaught C/2008 A1 (no. 424)

Somewhat as I've expected, this comet is now starting to fade a bit as it continues to recede from the earth and the sun, although it was still visible in binoculars near magnitude 8 1/2 when I observed it a few nights ago. It remains quite low in the western sky after dusk, and gradually will be sinking lower over the coming weeks. It is currently located in northern Ophiuchus, 1 1/2 degrees east of the star Sigma Ophiuchi and three degrees west of the star Beta Ophiuchi; it is traveling towards the northeast at 40 arcminutes per day, passing 1 1/2 degrees northwest of the latter star on November 24 and an equivalent distance northwest of the large star cluster IC 4665 two days later. I expect the comet to continue fading, perhaps by about a half magnitude or so by the beginning of December.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (no. 444)

My tally's newest addition is an extremely faint object (magnitude 14 1/2) located in the southwestern evening sky in eastern Capricornus, currently half a degree northwest of the star Zeta Capricorni. It is traveling towards the northeast at about 25 arcminutes per day, passing 15 arcminutes south of the star 35 Capricorni on November 23 and 40 arcminutes southeast of the star Epsilon Capricorni six days later. The comet is still over three months away from perihelion but is already receding from Earth, and thus at most will exhibit a slow brightening over the coming weeks, probably no more than half a magnitude by early December.

Comet Christensen C/2006 W3 (no. 422)

This distant comet, which is still 7 1/2 months away from perihelion passage, went through opposition a month and a half ago and was (temporarily) nearest Earth (3.36 AU) earlier this week. To my eyes its brightness seems to be holding steady now near magnitude 11 1/2, slightly fainter than what I was seeing when it was near opposition. It remains conveniently located for observation in the northern sky during the evening hours, currently in moderately rich Milky Way star fields in central Cepheus 40 arcminutes south of the star 19 Cephei; it is now traveling slightly eastward of due south at about half a degree per day. The comet passes two degrees east of the "Garnet Star" Mu Cephei on November 27 and 1 1/2 degrees east of the star Zeta Cephei the following day. I would expect it to remain fairly constant in brightness for the next few weeks, and meanwhile it continues to exhibit some distinctive visual structure (including a rather strongly condensed coma and the beginnings of a short, dim tail) through the telescope.

Comet 6P/d'Arrest (no. 435)

This comet is continuing its expected slow fading trend; when I observed it a few nights ago it appeared as a pale ghostly cloud of about 10th magnitude, no longer visible in binoculars but still quite easy to see in the telescope. It is still fairly deep in the southern evening sky, currently located in western Sculptor two degrees southeast of the star Delta Sculptoris; it is traveling towards the northeast at half a degree per day and crosses into southwestern Cetus on December 4. I expect the comet to maintain its current slow fading, although since it is continuing to grow more diffuse it may not remain visually detectable for too very much longer.

Comet Ory P/2008 Q2 (no. 439)

I may very well be done with this comet. Right around the time it passed perihelion last month it underwent a distinct brightnening of about half a magnitude (to slightly brigher than 14th magnitude), but when I saw it a few nights ago it had dropped back to its previous brightness (i.e., a bit fainter than magnitude 14); since it went through opposition earlier this month and thus is now receding from both the sun and Earth it will most likely continue this fading trend and soon fade beyond visual detectability. The comet is currently located in southern Aries one degree northeast of the star Sigma Arietis and is traveling slowly towards the northeast.

Comet 144P/Kushida (no. 443)

This recent addition to my tally just went through opposition less than a week ago, and is currently located in eastern Aries one degree south of the star 63 Arietis (and seven degrees southwest of the Pleiades star cluster M45); it is traveling slowly towards the south-southwest. It appeared as a small and relatively condensed object of magnitude 12 1/2 when I first observed it a few nights ago, but the reports I've read suggest that it has brightened quite rapidly over the fairly recent past, and if it continues this trend it may be a half- to a full magnitude brighter than that within the relatively near future.

Comet Broughton C/2006 OF2 (no. 410)

This comet is now a little over two months past perihelion but is still a month away from opposition, and thus is probably close to its maximum brightness; it appeared as a fairly impressive and condensed object of 11th magnitude (with a faint but distinct tail three to four arcminutes long) when I saw it a couple of nights ago. It is currently located in northwestern Lynx one degree west-southwest of the star 8 Lyncis; it has just passed its stationary point and has also just passed its farthest north point (declination +61.2 degrees) and thus is beginning to travel slowly towards the southwest, being located half a degree south of that star at the end of this month.

Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 (no. 226)

I have not had a chance to observe this comet since the recent full moon, but will probably attempt it sometime within the next few mornings. It underwent a significant outburst (one of the brightest I have seen) two months ago, and when I last observed it early this month the coma had diffused out to almost four arcminutes across; the comet's overall brightness was still around magnitude 11 1/2 and thus it wasn't difficult to see. It may still be visible when I look for it again, but unless there has been any further recent activity it will probably fade beyond visual detectability before much longer. Additional outbursts are always possible at any time, of course. The comet is currently located in western Cancer just over a degree south of the star Lambda Cancri (and five degrees northwest of the Praesepe star cluster M44); it has just passed its stationary point and is now traveling very slowly almost due westward.

Comet 19P/Borrelly (no. 436)

As was the case for the above comet, I have not had a chance to observe this one either since the recent full moon, and in truth I'm not sure I'll be seeing it again in any event; when I last saw it early this month it was clearly growing fainter and more diffuse, and since it is now almost four months past perihelion I would only expect this trend to continue. It is currently traversing the Coma star cluster (Melotte 111) in Coma Berenices (presently half a degree north of the star 12 Comae Berenices just west of the cluster's center) and is traveling due eastward at just under half a degree per day. Over the next two days the comet passes almost directly across the cluster's center, and on November 28 it passes less than 15 arcminutes north of the prominent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565. When I last observed the comet it appeared as a fairly vague object of magnitude 12 1/2, and it has probably faded a half-magnitude or so since then; meanwhile, it is also probably still maintaining the distinctly elongated visual appearance that is due to the tail and anti-tail structure that is evident on recent CCD images.

Comet Siding Spring C/2007 Q3 (no. 441)

I have not read any reports of visual observations of this comet since the initial ones I made in early October; it was magnitude 13 1/2 then and should be somewhere between a half- to a full magnitude brighter than that now. It is currently an early morning-sky object at a declination of -53 degrees, located in western Carina 1 1/2 degrees west-southwest of the bright star Canopus; it is traveling slowly towards the south-southwest, crossing into eastern Pictor on November 23 and passing just over one degree northwest of the star Delta Pictoris a week later. The comet will be at opposition a little less than a month from now and should continue to brighten slowly over the coming weeks.