Back to Contributors

139P

139P/Vaisala-Oterma

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not visible to typical instruments. Current estimate mag 22.0. Visual and most CCD amateur setups will not see it. Space telescopes or large ground telescopes are the remaining path.

Active comet in COBS

Right ascension

J2000

Declination

J2000

Estimated magnitude

22.0

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

24

Arc unknown

Last observation

13d ago

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 23:02:15 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

2027-07-23

3.390 au

Peak window

2027-07-20 → 2027-11-30

COBS peak mag 21.5 on 2027-11-27 · perihelion 2027-07-23. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

21.5

COBS / analyzed peak 2027-11-27

Catalog ingest

3m ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-17 03:30:14 UTC

Light curve

Brightness over time (V mag)

Gold = reported observations. Steel dashed family = ensemble (nominal / outburst / fade / disruption).

Tail length

Converted to degrees from COBS (d / arcmin / arcsec). Empty until analysis has pulled the archive.

Ensemble is a first-pass H0/n photometric model plus observed samples — not a trained ML forecast yet. The background analyzer walks the catalog one object at a time so COBS is not flooded. Disruption track rises after perihelion to stand in for solar-wind stripping.

Orbital elements

q

3.390 au

e

0.2480

i

2.34°

Ω

242.00°

ω

166.00°

a

MOID

H

H0 / n

NEO score

PHA score

RMS

Elongation

Reporting sources

  • COBS comet list

    ok

    Comet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).

Name history

  • 139P/Vaisala-Oterma

    139P · 2026-09-14 18:27:52 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Vaisala-Oterma

    Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:52 UTC → current

Contributors

Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.