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

Periodic comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova passed close by the Earth on February 11, 2017. On this day, it moved to within 12.6 million kilometres or 7.8 million miles of our planet, which in astronomical terms was just a stone's throw away. At closest approach, the comet shone at mag. +6.5 and was visible with binoculars. However, soon it will dramatically fade as it heads towards the outer Solar System. As a result, the third week of February offers the last real good chance to catch a glimpse, until it returns in 5 years time.

Comet 45P is now well placed from northern latitudes. On February 14th, it was located in Boötes about 14 degrees northeast of first magnitude Arcturus. Moving westwards, 45P crossed into Canes Venatici on February 15th where it remains until February 20th. It then spends a day in Coma Berenices before moving into Ursa Major. On February 25th, the comet passes into Leo where it stays for the rest of the month.

On February 14th, 45p was still relatively bright at magnitude +7.2. It's now fading and by the month's end could be down to 12th magnitude. However, until about February 22nd, it should remain bright enough to be seen with small scopes and even binoculars. In addition, it's superbly placed from northern latitudes. The comet rises in the east during early evening, before reaching a high point in the sky during morning hours. It's not so well placed from southern locations, appearing lower down and rising much later on.

The charts below show the positions of the comet between February 12th and 22nd.

Positions of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova from February 12th to 16th - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

Positions of comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova from February 15th to 22nd - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

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-Feb-2017 20h 12m 36s -04d 01m 01s 7.9 0.162 Aquila 02-Feb-2017 20h 03m 27s -02d 31m 24s 7.8 0.150 Aquila 03-Feb-2017 19h 52m 53s -00d 47m 52s 7.7 0.139 Aquila 04-Feb-2017 19h 40m 37s 01d 12m 15s 7.5 0.128 Aquila 05-Feb-2017 19h 26m 17s 03d 31m 49s 7.4 0.118 Aquila 06-Feb-2017 19h 09m 27s 06d 13m 31s 7.3 0.109 Aquila 07-Feb-2017 18h 49m 37s 09d 19m 08s 7.1 0.101 Aquila 08-Feb-2017 18h 26m 16s 12d 48m 06s 6.9 0.094 Hercules 09-Feb-2017 17h 58m 58s 16d 35m 36s 6.7 0.089 Hercules 10-Feb-2017 17h 27m 34s 20d 30m 41s 6.5 0.085 Hercules 11-Feb-2017 16h 52m 27s 24d 16m 15s 6.5 0.083 Hercules 12-Feb-2017 16h 14m 43s 27d 32m 44s 6.7 0.084 Corona Borealis 13-Feb-2017 15h 36m 12s 30d 04m 43s 6.9 0.086 Corona Borealis 14-Feb-2017 14h 58m 55s 31d 46m 26s 7.2 0.090 Boötes 15-Feb-2017 14h 24m 33s 32d 41m 58s 7.5 0.096 Boötes 16-Feb-2017 13h 54m 04s 33d 01m 15s 7.8 0.103 Canes Venatici 17-Feb-2017 13h 27m 42s 32d 55m 21s 8.1 0.112 Canes Venatici 18-Feb-2017 13h 05m 11s 32d 33m 38s 8.4 0.121 Canes Venatici 19-Feb-2017 12h 46m 05s 32d 02m 57s 8.7 0.131 Canes Venatici 20-Feb-2017 12h 29m 52s 31d 27m 51s 9.0 0.141 Canes Venatici 21-Feb-2017 12h 16m 03s 30d 51m 10s 9.3 0.152 Coma Berenices 22-Feb-2017 12h 04m 12s 30d 14m 36s 9.6 0.164 Ursa Major 23-Feb-2017 11h 53m 59s 29d 39m 07s 9.9 0.176 Ursa Major 24-Feb-2017 11h 45m 07s 29d 05m 10s 10.4 0.188 Ursa Major 25-Feb-2017 11h 37m 22s 28d 32m 58s 10.8 0.200 Ursa Major 26-Feb-2017 11h 30m 33s 28d 02m 36s 11.2 0.213 Leo 27-Feb-2017 11h 24m 32s 27d 33m 59s 11.7 0.226 Leo 28-Feb-2017 11h 19m 11s 27d 07m 02s 12.3 0.239 Leo

See also

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

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