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C/1950 K1

C/1950 K1 (Minkowski)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 27473 days ago at mag 35.3. Historic peak was mag 9.0. 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

35.3

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

76

Arc unknown

Last observation

27473d ago

Sat, 30 Jun 1951 06:57:35 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1950-12-17

2.520 au

Peak window

1950-12-14 → 1951-04-02

COBS peak mag 9.0 on 1951-03-30 · perihelion 1950-12-17. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

9.0

COBS / analyzed peak 1951-03-30

Catalog ingest

2d ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-14 20:00:18 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

2.520 au

e

0.9990

i

144.00°

Ω

39.00°

ω

192.00°

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/1950 K1 (Minkowski)

    Informal: Minkowski

    C/1950 K1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Minkowski

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

Contributors

  • Albert F. Jones

    Visual Observer · JON · 45 reports · last 27473d ago

  • Max Beyer

    Visual Observer · BEY · 31 reports · last 27788d ago

  • G. Merton

    Visual Observer · MER02 · 3 reports · last 27800d ago

  • D. A. Roshkovskiy

    Visual Observer · ROS03 · 2 reports · last 27567d ago

  • G. R. Nankivell

    Visual Observer · NAN · 2 reports · last 27566d ago

  • J. L. White

    Visual Observer · WHI · 2 reports · last 27823d ago

  • W. A. Granger

    Visual Observer · GRA · 1 reports · last 27821d ago

  • W. H. Steavenson

    Visual Observer · STE06 · 1 reports · last 27790d ago

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