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 270700 comet observations of more than 1550 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
Unfiltered image of comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura), obtained on 2023 Sep. 3 (3h09-3h18UT) in twilight conditions, with 60-cm, f/3.3 Deltagraph telescope and CMO. Exposure time was 10x30 seconds. Image scale is 1.7 arc sec/pixel. Some cirrus clouds interfered observations. Copyright © 2023 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 |
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Location: Crni Vrh Observatory
Latitude: 45.94583; longitude: 14.07111; elevation: 726.0Comet finding charts provided by Dominic Ford: https://in-the-sky.org/
Lightcurve of comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)
Recent observations
| Type | Comet | Obs date | Meth | Mag | T | App | P | Dia | DC | Tail | Tail unit | PA | User |
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Top news
ICQ confirmed new abbreviation keys
Latest news
How to see newly discovered Comet Nishimura
The new comet to look for with the naked eye.
A new comet is visible in the predawn skies as it passes close to Earth on its journey around the Sun. Comet Nishimura is green in color with a long, white tail. It will make its closest pass by Earth on Sept. 12, 2023, and then will carry on toward the Sun.
Asteroid's comet-like tail Is not made of dust, solar observatories reveal
We have known for a while that asteroid 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet. It brightens and forms a tail when it's near the Sun, and it is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, even though comets are responsible for most meteor showers. Scientists had blamed Phaethon's comet-like behavior on dust escaping from the asteroid as it's scorched by the Sun. However, a new study using two NASA solar observatories reveals that Phaethon's tail is not dusty at all but is actually made of sodium gas.
New Moravian Instruments Camera type keys
Comet impacts formed continents when Solar System entered arms of Milky Way
New Comets C/2022 L1
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).