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C/1963 F1

C/1963 F1 (Alcock)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 23037 days ago at mag 40.3. Historic peak was mag 12.3. 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

40.3

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

202

Arc unknown

Last observation

23037d ago

Thu, 22 Aug 1963 07:26:23 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1963-04-16

1.510 au

Peak window

1963-04-13 → 1963-05-16

COBS peak mag 12.3 on 1963-05-13 · perihelion 1963-04-16. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

12.3

COBS / analyzed peak 1963-05-13

Catalog ingest

12h 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

1.510 au

e

0.9970

i

85.70°

Ω

44.00°

ω

146.00°

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/1963 F1 (Alcock)

    Informal: Alcock

    C/1963 F1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Alcock

    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.