Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova now visible with small telescopes

Periodic comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova has now brightened sufficiently that it can be seen with small telescopes in the evening sky towards the west just after sunset. On New Years Day, the comet shone at apparent magnitude +7.1. Although not bright enough to be seen with the naked eye it can be spotted with small/medium size telescopes. However with binoculars it's a challenging object - not because of its magnitude - but due to its low altitude at dusk.

The comet remains low down for the first three weeks of January before it disappears behind the Sun for a short time. It then re-emerges in the morning sky during early February before moving rapidly north and passing the Earth at just 0.0843 AU (12.6 million kilometres or 7.8 million miles) on February 11th. From northern latitudes 45P will be well placed during this time although it rapidly fades after "swinging" by Earth.

The illustrations below show the view 45 minutes after sunset towards the west during January from New York City. From other mid-latitude northern locations the view will be similar. Also from southern latitudes the comet appears low down during this time.

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova data (at epoch January 7, 2017)

Name 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova Type Comet Discoverer Minoru Honda Discovery date December 3, 1948 Perihelion 0.5296 Aphelion 5.511 Semi-major axis (AU) 3.0205 Eccentricity 0.8246 Orbital period 5.25 Inclination (degrees) 4.257 Perihelion December 31, 2016

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova Data Table

Date Right Ascension Declination Mag. Distance from Earth (AU) Constellation 01-Dec-2016 19h 21m 13s -24d 41m 16s 13.2 1.277 Sagittarius 02-Dec-2016 19h 24m 23s -24d 35m 37s 13.0 1.263 Sagittarius 03-Dec-2016 19h 27m 34s -24d 29m 37s 12.7 1.248 Sagittarius 04-Dec-2016 19h 30m 48s -24d 23m 16s 12.5 1.234 Sagittarius 05-Dec-2016 19h 34m 03s -24d 16m 33s 12.3 1.218 Sagittarius 06-Dec-2016 19h 37m 20s -24d 09m 28s 12.1 1.203 Sagittarius 07-Dec-2016 19h 40m 39s -24d 02m 01s 11.8 1.187 Sagittarius 08-Dec-2016 19h 43m 60s -23d 54m 10s 11.6 1.171 Sagittarius 09-Dec-2016 19h 47m 21s -23d 45m 56s 11.4 1.154 Sagittarius 10-Dec-2016 19h 50m 44s -23d 37m 17s 11.1 1.137 Sagittarius 11-Dec-2016 19h 54m 08s -23d 28m 14s 10.9 1.120 Sagittarius 12-Dec-2016 19h 57m 33s -23d 18m 46s 10.6 1.103 Sagittarius 13-Dec-2016 20h 00m 59s -23d 08m 53s 10.4 1.085 Sagittarius 14-Dec-2016 20h 04m 25s -22d 58m 35s 10.2 1.066 Sagittarius 15-Dec-2016 20h 07m 51s -22d 47m 52s 9.9 1.048 Capricornus 16-Dec-2016 20h 11m 17s -22d 36m 43s 9.7 1.029 Capricornus 17-Dec-2016 20h 14m 42s -22d 25m 10s 9.5 1.010 Capricornus 18-Dec-2016 20h 18m 06s -22d 13m 11s 9.2 0.990 Capricornus 19-Dec-2016 20h 21m 29s -22d 00m 49s 9.0 0.970 Capricornus 20-Dec-2016 20h 24m 51s -21d 48m 02s 8.8 0.950 Capricornus 21-Dec-2016 20h 28m 10s -21d 34m 52s 8.6 0.930 Capricornus 22-Dec-2016 20h 31m 26s -21d 21m 21s 8.4 0.909 Capricornus 23-Dec-2016 20h 34m 39s -21d 07m 28s 8.2 0.888 Capricornus 24-Dec-2016 20h 37m 48s -20d 53m 16s 8.0 0.867 Capricornus 25-Dec-2016 20h 40m 52s -20d 38m 45s 7.9 0.846 Capricornus 26-Dec-2016 20h 43m 52s -20d 23m 57s 7.7 0.824 Capricornus 27-Dec-2016 20h 46m 46s -20d 08m 53s 7.6 0.802 Capricornus 28-Dec-2016 20h 49m 33s -19d 53m 36s 7.4 0.781 Capricornus 29-Dec-2016 20h 52m 13s -19d 38m 06s 7.3 0.759 Capricornus 30-Dec-2016 20h 54m 46s -19d 22m 25s 7.2 0.737 Capricornus 31-Dec-2016 20h 57m 10s -19d 06m 35s 7.2 0.715 Capricornus 01-Jan-2017 20h 59m 25s -18d 50m 36s 7.1 0.694 Capricornus 02-Jan-2017 21h 01m 31s -18d 34m 31s 7.1 0.672 Capricornus 03-Jan-2017 21h 03m 27s -18d 18m 19s 7.0 0.651 Capricornus 04-Jan-2017 21h 05m 13s -18d 02m 01s 7.0 0.629 Capricornus 05-Jan-2017 21h 06m 48s -17d 45m 37s 7.0 0.608 Capricornus 06-Jan-2017 21h 08m 11s -17d 29m 06s 7.1 0.587 Capricornus 07-Jan-2017 21h 09m 24s -17d 12m 29s 7.2 0.567 Capricornus 08-Jan-2017 21h 10m 24s -16d 55m 43s 7.1 0.546 Capricornus 09-Jan-2017 21h 11m 12s -16d 38m 47s 7.3 0.526 Capricornus 10-Jan-2017 21h 11m 47s -16d 21m 38s 7.5 0.506 Capricornus 11-Jan-2017 21h 12m 10s -16d 04m 13s 7.5 0.487 Capricornus 12-Jan-2017 21h 12m 21s -15d 46m 29s 7.7 0.468 Capricornus 13-Jan-2017 21h 12m 18s -15d 28m 21s 7.9 0.449 Capricornus 14-Jan-2017 21h 12m 01s -15d 09m 43s 8.0 0.431 Capricornus 15-Jan-2017 21h 11m 32s -14d 50m 31s 8.1 0.413 Capricornus 16-Jan-2017 21h 10m 48s -14d 30m 36s 8.1 0.396 Capricornus 17-Jan-2017 21h 09m 50s -14d 09m 51s 8.2 0.378 Aquarius 18-Jan-2017 21h 08m 37s -13d 48m 08s 8.2 0.362 Aquarius 19-Jan-2017 21h 07m 09s -13d 25m 15s 8.3 0.345 Aquarius 20-Jan-2017 21h 05m 25s -13d 01m 01s 8.3 0.329 Aquarius 21-Jan-2017 21h 03m 24s -12d 35m 12s 8.3 0.313 Aquarius 22-Jan-2017 21h 01m 04s -12d 07m 32s 8.4 0.298 Aquarius 23-Jan-2017 20h 58m 26s -11d 37m 42s 8.4 0.283 Aquarius 24-Jan-2017 20h 55m 26s -11d 05m 21s 8.5 0.268 Aquarius 25-Jan-2017 20h 52m 04s -10d 30m 02s 8.5 0.254 Aquarius 26-Jan-2017 20h 48m 15s -09d 51m 16s 8.5 0.239 Aquarius 27-Jan-2017 20h 43m 59s -09d 08m 25s 8.6 0.226 Aquarius 28-Jan-2017 20h 39m 09s -08d 20m 45s 8.6 0.212 Aquarius 29-Jan-2017 20h 33m 43s -07d 27m 23s 8.7 0.199 Aquila 30-Jan-2017 20h 27m 34s -06d 27m 14s 8.7 0.186 Aquila 31-Jan-2017 20h 20m 35s -05d 18m 58s 8.7 0.174 Aquila 01-Feb-2017 20h 12m 36s -04d 01m 01s 8.8 0.162 Aquila 02-Feb-2017 20h 03m 27s -02d 31m 24s 8.8 0.150 Aquila 03-Feb-2017 19h 52m 53s -00d 47m 52s 8.9 0.139 Aquila 04-Feb-2017 19h 40m 37s 01d 12m 15s 8.9 0.128 Aquila 05-Feb-2017 19h 26m 17s 03d 31m 49s 8.9 0.118 Aquila 06-Feb-2017 19h 09m 27s 06d 13m 31s 9.0 0.109 Aquila 07-Feb-2017 18h 49m 37s 09d 19m 08s 9.0 0.101 Aquila 08-Feb-2017 18h 26m 16s 12d 48m 06s 9.1 0.094 Hercules 09-Feb-2017 17h 58m 58s 16d 35m 36s 9.1 0.089 Hercules 10-Feb-2017 17h 27m 34s 20d 30m 41s 9.2 0.085 Hercules 11-Feb-2017 16h 52m 27s 24d 16m 15s 9.3 0.083 Hercules 12-Feb-2017 16h 14m 43s 27d 32m 44s 9.5 0.084 Corona Borealis 13-Feb-2017 15h 36m 12s 30d 04m 43s 9.7 0.086 Corona Borealis 14-Feb-2017 14h 58m 55s 31d 46m 26s 10.0 0.090 Boötes 15-Feb-2017 14h 24m 33s 32d 41m 58s 10.3 0.096 Boötes 16-Feb-2017 13h 54m 04s 33d 01m 15s 10.6 0.103 Canes Venatici 17-Feb-2017 13h 27m 42s 32d 55m 21s 10.9 0.112 Canes Venatici 18-Feb-2017 13h 05m 11s 32d 33m 38s 11.2 0.121 Canes Venatici 19-Feb-2017 12h 46m 05s 32d 02m 57s 11.6 0.131 Canes Venatici 20-Feb-2017 12h 29m 52s 31d 27m 51s 11.9 0.141 Canes Venatici 21-Feb-2017 12h 16m 03s 30d 51m 10s 12.2 0.152 Coma Berenices 22-Feb-2017 12h 04m 12s 30d 14m 36s 12.5 0.164 Ursa Major 23-Feb-2017 11h 53m 59s 29d 39m 07s 12.8 0.176 Ursa Major 24-Feb-2017 11h 45m 07s 29d 05m 10s 13.1 0.188 Ursa Major 25-Feb-2017 11h 37m 22s 28d 32m 58s 13.3 0.200 Ursa Major 26-Feb-2017 11h 30m 33s 28d 02m 36s 13.6 0.213 Leo 27-Feb-2017 11h 24m 32s 27d 33m 59s 13.9 0.226 Leo 28-Feb-2017 11h 19m 11s 27d 07m 02s 14.1 0.239 Leo

See also

Now is the last good chance to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova before it dramatically fades

How to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in the February morning sky. Will pass close by Earth on the 11th.