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C/1947 X1-A

C/1947 X1-A (Southern comet)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 28738 days ago at mag 38.8. Historic peak was mag -1.3. 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

38.8

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

21

Arc unknown

Last observation

28738d ago

Mon, 12 Jan 1948 13:55:12 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1947-10-14

0.094 au

Peak window

1947-10-11 → 1947-10-17

COBS peak mag -1.3 on 1947-10-14 · perihelion 1947-10-14. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

-1.3

COBS / analyzed peak 1947-10-14

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

0.094 au

e

1.0000

i

135.00°

Ω

336.00°

ω

195.00°

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/1947 X1-A (Southern comet)

    Informal: Southern comet

    C/1947 X1-A · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Southern comet

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

Contributors

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