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C/1940 R2

C/1940 R2 (Cunningham)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 31303 days ago at mag 39.7. Historic peak was mag 4.9. Typical backyard telescopes will not show it. HST, JWST, or an 8–10 m class telescope might recover it with a good ephemeris.

Active comet in COBS

JSONCSV

Right ascension

—

J2000

Declination

—

J2000

Estimated magnitude

39.7

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

64

Arc unknown

Last observation

31303d ago

Fri, 03 Jan 1941 13:55:12 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1940-11-02

0.384 au

Peak window

1940-10-28 → 1940-11-05

COBS peak mag 4.9 on 1940-10-31 · perihelion 1940-11-02. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

4.9

COBS / analyzed peak 1940-10-31

Catalog ingest

13h ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-16 13:20:18 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

0.384 au

e

1.0000

i

48.20°

Ω

296.00°

ω

200.00°

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

  • C/1940 R2 (Cunningham)

    Informal: Cunningham

    C/1940 R2 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Cunningham

    Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Contributors

  • Max Beyer

    Visual Observer · BEY · 31 reports · last 31303d ago

  • V. Chernov

    Visual Observer · CHE05 · 11 reports · last 31303d ago

  • S. K. Vsekhsvyatskij

    Visual Observer · VSE · 8 reports · last 31307d ago

  • L. Grabovski

    Visual Observer · GRA08 · 4 reports · last 31325d ago

  • J. Mergentaler

    Visual Observer · MER03 · 2 reports · last 31316d ago

  • L. Zaidler

    Visual Observer · ZAI01 · 2 reports · last 31320d ago

  • F. N. Felitsyn

    Visual Observer · FEL01 · 1 reports · last 31329d ago

  • G. N. Neujmin

    Visual Observer · NEU02 · 1 reports · last 31347d ago

  • G. O. Zateinikov

    Visual Observer · ZAT · 1 reports · last 31365d ago

  • K. A. Voroshiloff

    Visual Observer · VOR01 · 1 reports · last 31398d ago

  • K. D. Pokrowsky

    Visual Observer · POK · 1 reports · last 31338d ago

  • M. N. Abramova

    Visual Observer · ABR · 1 reports · last 31346d ago

  • M. O. Rudskyi

    Visual Observer · RUD02 · 1 reports · last 31344d ago

  • P. G. Kulikovkii

    Visual Observer · KUL · 1 reports · last 31366d ago

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