COBS - Comet OBServation database

Welcome to COBS!

Comet Observation database (COBS) saw first light in 2010 and is maintained by Crni Vrh Observatory. It is a free and unique service for comet observers worldwide which allows submission, display and analysis of comet data in a single location.

Amateur astronomers can make valuable contributions to comet science by observing comets and submitting their observations to COBS as professional astronomers typically do not have telescope time required to acquire regular observations. We therefore encourage comet observers worldwide to submit their observations and contribute to the COBS database.

Registered observers may submit observations using a web based form which stores the observations in an SQL database and stores them in ICQ format. Observations may be queried and plotted in the web site or exported for further processing, analysis and publication. The database currently contains more than 260700 comet observations of more than 1400 different comets and represents the largest available database of comet observations.

The data stored in COBS is freely available to everyone who honors our data usage policy. Please cite COBS as the reference if you use it for comet studies.

Latest image

Image of comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS), obtained on 2022 Aug. 4 (20h55-21h25UT) with 15-cm, f/6 Maksutov-Cassegrain astrocamera and Canon EOS 700D DSLR. Exposure time was 30 minutes (15x120 seconds) at ISO 1600. FOV is 60.9 x 44.6 arcmin . Image scale is 2.88 arc sec/pixel.
Copyright © 2022 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

Comets visible today at Crni Vrh Observatory

Comet	Mag	T	Source	Best time	Const	Obs	Chart	Comet PK	Comet MPC	Type

Location: Crni Vrh Observatory
Latitude: 45.94583; longitude: 14.07111; elevation: 726.0

Comet finding charts provided by Dominic Ford: https://in-the-sky.org/

Lightcurve of comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

Recent observations

Type	Comet	Obs date	Meth	Mag	T	App	P	Dia	DC	Tail	Tail unit	PA	User

Latest news

Comet impacts formed continents when Solar System entered arms of Milky Way

August 24, 2022

New research has found evidence that Earth's early continents resulted from being hit by comets as our Solar System passed into and out of the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, turning traditional thinking about our planet's formation on its head.

New Comets C/2022 L1

June 30, 2022

CBET 5134 & MPEC 2022-L97, issued on 2022, June 13, announce that an apparently asteroidal object discovered on June 4 with the 0.68-m Schmidt reflector of the Catalina Sky Survey has been found to show cometary appearance by CCD astrometrists elsewhere after the Minor Planet Center posted it to the PCCP webpage on the basis of a comet-like orbit. The new comet has been designated C/2022 L1 (Catalina).

New Comets C/2022 J1

June 30, 2022

CBET 5121 & MPEC 2022-J88 , issued on 2022, May 11, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18) by A. Maury and G. Attard on images obtained with a 0.28-m f/2.2 Schmidt reflector at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, on May 5. The new comet has been designated C/2022 J1 (Maury-Attard).

Near-sun comet roasted to death

June 16, 2022

Astronomers using a fleet of world leading telescopes on the ground and in space have captured images of a periodic rocky near-Sun comet breaking apart. This is the first time such a comet has been caught in the act of disintegrating and could help explain the scarcity of such periodic near-Sun comets.

Comet Interceptor approved for construction

June 08, 2022

ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission to visit a pristine comet or other interstellar object just starting its journey into the inner Solar System has been ‘adopted’ this week; the study phase is complete and, following selection of the spacecraft prime contractor, work will soon begin to build the mission.