178P
178P/Hug-Bell
Not currently visible. Last report 2090 days ago at mag 19.9. Historic peak was mag 18.2. Typical backyard telescopes will not show it. HST, JWST, or an 8–10 m class telescope might recover it with a good ephemeris.
Right ascension
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J2000
Declination
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J2000
Estimated magnitude
19.9
Professional survey · COBS consensus
Confidence
33
Class E · priority 60
Observations
0
Arc unknown
Last observation
2090d ago
Sat, 26 Dec 2020 22:47:59 GMT · COBS consensus
Perihelion
2027-06-21
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Peak window
2027-06-18 → 2027-12-01
COBS peak mag 18.2 on 2027-11-28 · perihelion 2027-06-21. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.
Historic peak
18.2
COBS / analyzed peak 2027-11-28
Catalog ingest
2m ago
Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-17 03:30:15 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.
No tail measures stored yet for this object.
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
—
e
—
i
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Ω
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ω
—
a
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MOID
—
H
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H0 / n
—
NEO score
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PHA score
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RMS
—
Elongation
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Reporting sources
COBS comet list
okComet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).
Name history
178P/Hug-Bell
178P · 2026-09-13 22:21:22 UTC → current
Discoverers
Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-13 22:21:22 UTC → current
Contributors
CCD Observer · JAE · 1 reports · last 2090d ago
Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.