Is there a comet worth your night? Comet Watch answers for the place you pin: which comets are in reach tonight and with what gear, when the next good one comes, and how sure anyone can be about a comet.
Tonight from Georgetown
8 October 2026, dark from 6:50 pm to 4:30 am GYT.
No comet for the eye or binoculars tonight.
Brightest: 10P/Tempel 2 - a camera target, about magnitude 10.1 and fading. Highest at 9:39 pm, halfway up in the south.
22P/Kopff: 22 February to 18 November 2028, with binoculars.
Likely in reach of binoculars on its best night, 25 June 2028.
In reach from here 22 February to 18 November 2028.
71 degrees up at its best minute that night.
45 nights at the binocular rung or better.
Forecast from how this comet behaved on past returns.
It comes nearer the Sun than on any return we have reports for, so the forecast reaches past the data.
Sooner, for a telescope or camera
10P/Tempel 2: 8 October to 11 November 2026, with a camera.
161P/Hartley-IRAS: 8 October to 11 November 2026, with a camera.
2P/Encke: 27 November 2026 to 27 January 2027, with a camera.
2P/Encke: 22 February to 13 March 2027, with a camera.
45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova: 18 July to 24 September 2027, with a camera.
Every comet we are tracking
Visible now
Measured by observers in the last 10 days and in reach from here tonight.
10P/Tempel 2: Past its best. Still a target for a camera from Georgetown until about 11 November 2026. Measured at about magnitude 10.1 (18 reports to 6 October 2026). Measured.
161P/Hartley-IRAS: At its best from Georgetown with a camera until about 15 October 2026. Measured at about magnitude 11.1 (10 reports to 7 October 2026). Measured.
Coming soon
First in reach from here within four months.
2P/Encke: Returns in February 2027. First in reach from Georgetown about 27 November 2026 to 27 January 2027, with a camera. Measured at about magnitude 17.3 (30 reports to 7 October 2026). Also in reach 22 February to 13 March 2027. Measured.
Later
In reach from here further ahead, by forecast.
45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova: Returns in August 2027. First in reach from Georgetown about 18 July to 24 September 2027, with a camera. Forecast about 8.0 (likely 7.2 to 8.8) on its best night, 30 August 2027. Forecast.
22P/Kopff: Returns in June 2028. First in reach from Georgetown about 22 February to 18 November 2028, with binoculars. Forecast about 5.1 (likely 4.1 to 6.1) on its best night, 25 June 2028. Forecast.
C/2026 C1 (Tsuchinshan): Hidden in the Sun's glare from Georgetown until about 4 March 2028. Forecast about 10.5 (likely 8.4 to 13.7) on its best night, 1 June 2028. Also in reach 19 September to 17 October 2028; 12 November 2028 to 4 January 2029. Early forecast.
96P/Machholz: Returns in May 2028. First in reach from Georgetown about 3 to 23 June 2028, with a camera. Forecast about 11.0 (likely 7.7 to 14.3) on its best night, 15 June 2028. Early forecast.
19P/Borrelly: Returns in December 2028. First in reach from Georgetown about 5 September 2028 to 4 January 2029, with a small telescope. Forecast about 6.8 (likely 6.2 to 7.4) on its best night, 11 December 2028. Forecast.
81P/Wild 2: Returns in May 2029. First in reach from Georgetown about 18 December 2028 to 4 January 2029, with a camera. Forecast about 11.4 (likely 10.7 to 12.1) on its best night, 4 January 2029. Forecast. Predicted, not confirmed.
The long horizon
Famous returns worth knowing about decades ahead.
1P/Halley: Returns in 2061: perihelion about 28 July 2061. Early forecast.
Tracked, out of reach from here
Too faint, too low or too near the Sun from this place on this return.
109P/Swift-Tuttle: Last at perihelion in December 1992. Next return about 2126. Early forecast.
169P/NEAT: Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is too faint for a camera here. Measured at about magnitude 12.9 (4 reports to 6 October 2026). Measured.
220P/McNaught: Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is too faint for a camera here. Measured at about magnitude 12.8 (33 reports to 6 October 2026). Measured.
55P/Tempel-Tuttle: Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is forecast too faint or too low. Early forecast.
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is forecast too faint or too low. Forecast.
8P/Tuttle: Last at perihelion in August 2021. Next return about 2035. Early forecast.
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS): Last at perihelion in September 2024. Not expected to return in our lifetimes. Early forecast.
C/2025 Y1 (ATLAS): Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it stays in the Sun's glare. Early forecast. Predicted, not confirmed.
C/2026 A2 (Bok): Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is too faint for a camera here. Measured at about magnitude 13.5 (60 reports to 7 October 2026). Measured.
C/2026 O1 (PANSTARRS): Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is too faint for a camera here. Recent.
P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring): Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is forecast too faint or too low. Early forecast. Predicted, not confirmed.
P/2026 R2 (Leonard): Not in reach from Georgetown on this return: it is too faint for a camera here. Measured at about magnitude 13.0 (10 reports to 7 October 2026). Measured.
Orbits: NASA/JPL Horizons (Giorgini, JD and the JPL Solar System Dynamics Group), data retrieved 2026-10-08.
Catalogue brightness laws: JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Observed brightness: COBS Comet Observation Database (https://cobs.si) and its contributing observers, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Data updated 8 October 2026. A magnitude never appears here without its basis:
Measured: Observers measured this in the last 10 days.
Recent: Last measured within the past month. It may have changed.
Forecast: Not measured yet this return. Based on how this comet behaved on past returns.
Early forecast: A catalogue estimate. Early predictions are often wrong in both directions.
A comet's light is spread over a fuzzy patch, so its magnitude overstates how easy it is to see. That is why the gear rungs ask for a magnitude in hand, and why every forecast is given as a range.
Pin your own place on the page and every answer is worked out for it.