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Early warning for newly discovered comets and unconfirmed objects.

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C/1973 E1

C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 19173 days ago at mag 33.1. Historic peak was mag -3.1. 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

33.1

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

689

Arc unknown

Last observation

19173d ago

Fri, 22 Mar 1974 00:57:35 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1973-12-28

0.159 au

Peak window

1973-12-25 → 1973-12-31

COBS peak mag -3.1 on 1973-12-28 · perihelion 1973-12-28. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

-3.1

COBS / analyzed peak 1973-12-28

Catalog ingest

14h ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-17 13:20:23 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

0.159 au

e

1.0000

i

13.50°

Ω

256.00°

ω

40.20°

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/1973 E1 (Kohoutek)

    Informal: Kohoutek

    C/1973 E1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Kohoutek

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

Contributors

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