Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) moves past Kemble's Cascade during the last week of February 2016. Visible with binoculars and small telescopes from northern and tropical latitudes.

Despite moving away from Earth as it heads towards the outer reaches of the Solar System comet Catalina remains well placed from Northern Hemisphere and tropical locations during February. At the start of the month the comet shone at magnitude +6.9 and beyond naked eye visibility but easily within binocular range. Unless something now dramatic happens it's expected to fade by another two magnitudes by months end, becoming increasingly difficult to spot with binoculars. At this level of brightness a small size telescope - preferably larger - is recommended for observing. From mid southern locations Catalina can no longer be seen.

From northern locations, Catalina can be seen high in the sky towards the north after sunset. The comet remains circumpolar from many locations and therefore visible all night long. It spends all of February moving on a southerly path through the dim constellation of Camelopardalis. The highlight of the month occurs on February 22nd and 23rd when Catalina passes close by open cluster NGC 1502. This small cluster shines at magnitude +7.0 and normally would be unremarkable except for a long line of mainly 8th and 9th magnitude stars adjacent to it known as "Kemble's Cascade". This superb asterism was discovered by Father Lucian Kemble who described it as "a beautiful cascade of faint stars tumbling from the northwest down to the open cluster NGC 1502".

The easiest way to find Kemble's Cascade is to imagine a line connection stars Caph (β Cas - mag. +2.3) and epsilon Cas (ε Cas - mag. +3.4) in Cassiopeia. Then extend the line eastwards by the same distance again to reach Kemble's Cascade. The asterism covers about 4 degrees of sky. For imagers a configuration with a large field of view is required to capture both the comet and the Kemble's Cascade in the same shot.

The finder charts below show the positions of Catalina from February 9th to March 8th, 2016.

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) Finder Chart from February 9th to March 8th, 2016 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) Finder Chart from January 30th to February 12th, 2016 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) Finder Chart from January 22nd to January 31st, 2016 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

(C/2013 US10) Catalina Data (at epoch November 15, 2014)

Name C/2013 US10 (Catalina) Type Comet Discoverer Catalina Sky Survey Discovery date October 31, 2013 Perihelion (AU) 0.82290 Eccentricity 1.00040 Orbital period (years) unknown Inclination (degrees) 148.8733 Longitude of ascending node (degrees) 186.1371 Perihelion November 15th, 2015

(C/2013 US10) Catalina Data Table

01-Feb-2016 08h 11m 30s 81d 31m 57s 6.9 0.886 Camelopardalis 02-Feb-2016 07h 25m 41s 81d 04m 02s 7.0 0.906 Camelopardalis 03-Feb-2016 06h 47m 34s 80d 19m 17s 7.1 0.928 Camelopardalis 04-Feb-2016 06h 17m 07s 79d 23m 32s 7.2 0.950 Camelopardalis 05-Feb-2016 05h 53m 09s 78d 21m 19s 7.2 0.973 Camelopardalis 06-Feb-2016 05h 34m 15s 77d 15m 49s 7.3 0.997 Camelopardalis 07-Feb-2016 05h 19m 16s 76d 09m 07s 7.4 1.021 Camelopardalis 08-Feb-2016 05h 07m 14s 75d 02m 33s 7.5 1.046 Camelopardalis 09-Feb-2016 04h 57m 29s 73d 56m 58s 7.6 1.072 Camelopardalis 10-Feb-2016 04h 49m 29s 72d 52m 56s 7.6 1.098 Camelopardalis 11-Feb-2016 04h 42m 52s 71d 50m 46s 7.7 1.124 Camelopardalis 12-Feb-2016 04h 37m 21s 70d 50m 40s 7.8 1.151 Camelopardalis 13-Feb-2016 04h 32m 43s 69d 52m 43s 7.9 1.179 Camelopardalis 14-Feb-2016 04h 28m 48s 68d 56m 59s 7.9 1.207 Camelopardalis 15-Feb-2016 04h 25m 28s 68d 03m 25s 8.0 1.235 Camelopardalis 16-Feb-2016 04h 22m 39s 67d 12m 02s 8.1 1.263 Camelopardalis 17-Feb-2016 04h 20m 14s 66d 22m 45s 8.1 1.292 Camelopardalis 18-Feb-2016 04h 18m 10s 65d 35m 30s 8.2 1.321 Camelopardalis 19-Feb-2016 04h 16m 25s 64d 50m 14s 8.3 1.350 Camelopardalis 20-Feb-2016 04h 14m 55s 64d 06m 51s 8.4 1.380 Camelopardalis 21-Feb-2016 04h 13m 38s 63d 25m 17s 8.4 1.409 Camelopardalis 22-Feb-2016 04h 12m 34s 62d 45m 28s 8.5 1.439 Camelopardalis 23-Feb-2016 04h 11m 39s 62d 07m 18s 8.6 1.469 Camelopardalis 24-Feb-2016 04h 10m 54s 61d 30m 44s 8.6 1.499 Camelopardalis 25-Feb-2016 04h 10m 17s 60d 55m 40s 8.7 1.530 Camelopardalis 26-Feb-2016 04h 09m 47s 60d 22m 03s 8.8 1.560 Camelopardalis 27-Feb-2016 04h 09m 24s 59d 49m 48s 8.8 1.591 Camelopardalis 28-Feb-2016 04h 09m 06s 59d 18m 52s 8.9 1.621 Camelopardalis 29-Feb-2016 04h 08m 54s 58d 49m 10s 9.0 1.652 Camelopardalis 01-Mar-2016 04h 08m 47s 58d 20m 40s 9.0 1.683 Camelopardalis 02-Mar-2016 04h 08m 43s 57d 53m 19s 9.1 1.714 Camelopardalis 03-Mar-2016 04h 08m 44s 57d 27m 02s 9.1 1.744 Camelopardalis 04-Mar-2016 04h 08m 49s 57d 01m 47s 9.2 1.775 Camelopardalis 05-Mar-2016 04h 08m 56s 56d 37m 31s 9.2 1.806 Camelopardalis 06-Mar-2016 04h 09m 07s 56d 14m 12s 9.3 1.837 Camelopardalis 07-Mar-2016 04h 09m 21s 55d 51m 46s 9.3 1.868 Camelopardalis 08-Mar-2016 04h 09m 37s 55d 30m 12s 9.4 1.899 Camelopardalis 09-Mar-2016 04h 09m 56s 55d 09m 28s 9.5 1.930 Camelopardalis 10-Mar-2016 04h 10m 16s 54d 49m 30s 9.5 1.961 Camelopardalis 11-Mar-2016 04h 10m 39s 54d 30m 17s 9.6 1.992 Camelopardalis 12-Mar-2016 04h 11m 04s 54d 11m 48s 9.6 2.022 Camelopardalis 13-Mar-2016 04h 11m 31s 53d 53m 60s 9.7 2.053 Camelopardalis 14-Mar-2016 04h 11m 59s 53d 36m 51s 9.7 2.084 Camelopardalis 15-Mar-2016 04h 12m 29s 53d 20m 20s 9.8 2.114 Camelopardalis 16-Mar-2016 04h 13m 00s 53d 04m 25s 9.8 2.145 Camelopardalis 17-Mar-2016 04h 13m 33s 52d 49m 06s 9.9 2.176 Perseus 18-Mar-2016 04h 14m 07s 52d 34m 19s 9.9 2.206 Perseus 19-Mar-2016 04h 14m 42s 52d 20m 04s 10.0 2.236 Perseus 20-Mar-2016 04h 15m 18s 52d 06m 20s 10.1 2.267 Perseus 21-Mar-2016 04h 15m 55s 51d 53m 06s 10.2 2.297 Perseus 22-Mar-2016 04h 16m 34s 51d 40m 19s 10.2 2.327 Perseus 23-Mar-2016 04h 17m 13s 51d 28m 00s 10.2 2.357 Perseus 24-Mar-2016 04h 17m 53s 51d 16m 07s 10.2 2.387 Perseus 25-Mar-2016 04h 18m 34s 51d 04m 39s 10.3 2.417 Perseus 26-Mar-2016 04h 19m 16s 50d 53m 35s 10.3 2.446 Perseus 27-Mar-2016 04h 19m 58s 50d 42m 54s 10.3 2.476 Perseus 28-Mar-2016 04h 20m 41s 50d 32m 36s 10.4 2.505 Perseus 29-Mar-2016 04h 21m 25s 50d 22m 39s 10.4 2.534 Perseus 30-Mar-2016 04h 22m 09s 50d 13m 03s 10.4 2.564 Perseus 31-Mar-2016 04h 22m 54s 50d 03m 47s 10.5 2.593 Perseus

See also

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) now fading as it recedes from Earth. Currently moving through the far northern constellations. Remains visible with binoculars and small telescopes.

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) remains visible with binoculars and small telescopes at it moves northwards. This month offers the last good chance to catch a glimpse before it fades significantly.

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) moves past Arcturus as it heads north during January. Remains visible with binoculars and small telescopes.

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) remains an early morning binocular and small telescope object

Catalina (C/2013 US10) an early morning binocular and small telescope comet

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) edges towards naked eye visibility

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) remains visible in the evening from Southern and Equatorial Latitudes during September 2015

Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) now visible with binoculars from Southern and Equatorial Latitudes

