C/1952 W1
C/1952 W1 (Mrkos)
Not currently visible. Last report 26879 days ago at mag 38.9. Historic peak was mag 8.5. 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
—
J2000
Declination
—
J2000
Estimated magnitude
38.9
Professional survey · COBS consensus
Confidence
33
Class E · priority 60
Observations
29
Arc unknown
Last observation
26879d ago
Fri, 13 Feb 1953 09:21:36 GMT · COBS consensus
Perihelion
1952-12-15
0.825 au
Peak window
1952-12-12 → 1952-12-18
COBS peak mag 8.5 on 1952-12-15 · perihelion 1952-12-15. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.
Historic peak
8.5
COBS / analyzed peak 1952-12-15
Catalog ingest
11h 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.
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
0.825 au
e
1.0000
i
97.30°
Ω
344.00°
ω
254.00°
a
—
MOID
—
H
—
H0 / n
—
NEO score
—
PHA score
—
RMS
—
Elongation
—
Reporting sources
COBS comet list
okComet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).
Name history
C/1952 W1 (Mrkos)
Informal: Mrkos
C/1952 W1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current
Discoverers
Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current
Contributors
Visual Observer · JON · 20 reports · last 26883d ago
Visual Observer · PHI · 10 reports · last 26879d ago
Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.