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C/1961 O1

C/1961 O1 (Wilson-Hubbard)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 23755 days ago at mag 45.4. Historic peak was mag 2.4. 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

45.4

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

26

Arc unknown

Last observation

23755d ago

Sat, 02 Sep 1961 22:04:48 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1961-06-05

0.043 au

Peak window

1961-06-02 → 1961-06-08

COBS peak mag 2.4 on 1961-06-05 · perihelion 1961-06-05. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

2.4

COBS / analyzed peak 1961-06-05

Catalog ingest

13h ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-16 13:20:17 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

0.043 au

e

1.0000

i

24.40°

Ω

305.00°

ω

265.00°

a

—

MOID

—

H

—

H0 / n

—

NEO score

—

PHA score

—

RMS

—

Elongation

—

Reporting sources

  • COBS comet list

    down

    Comet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).

Name history

  • C/1961 O1 (Wilson-Hubbard)

    Informal: Wilson-Hubbard

    C/1961 O1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Wilson-Hubbard

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

Contributors

  • Max Beyer

    Visual Observer · BEY · 11 reports · last 23755d ago

  • G. E. Stone

    Visual Observer · STO01 · 3 reports · last 23779d ago

  • Alan McClure

    Visual Observer · MCC02 · 2 reports · last 23795d ago

  • Dennis Milon

    Visual Observer · MIL · 2 reports · last 23779d ago

  • G.E.D. Alcock

    Visual Observer · ALC · 2 reports · last 23782d ago

  • A. Nikitin

    Visual Observer · NIK02 · 1 reports · last 23795d ago

  • A. W. and P. H. Vince

    Visual Observer · VIN · 1 reports · last 23783d ago

  • Clark Chapman

    Visual Observer · CHA · 1 reports · last 23792d ago

  • Craig L. Johnson

    Visual Observer · JOH02 · 1 reports · last 23794d ago

  • Robert Farmer

    Visual Observer · FAR · 1 reports · last 23793d ago

  • Roy W. Panther

    Visual Observer · PAN · 1 reports · last 23791d ago

  • S. W. Milbourn

    Visual Observer · MIL01 · 1 reports · last 23782d ago

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