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C/1978 R3

C/1978 R3 (Machholz)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 17158 days ago at mag 35.3. Historic peak was mag 11.9. 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

58

Arc unknown

Last observation

17158d ago

Tue, 25 Sep 1979 14:24:00 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1978-07-28

1.810 au

Peak window

1978-07-25 → 1978-08-08

COBS peak mag 11.9 on 1978-08-05 · perihelion 1978-07-28. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

11.9

COBS / analyzed peak 1978-08-05

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.

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

1.810 au

e

1.0000

i

131.00°

Ω

291.00°

ω

225.00°

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/1978 R3 (Machholz)

    Informal: Machholz

    C/1978 R3 · 2026-09-14 18:27:58 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Machholz

    Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:58 UTC → current

Contributors

  • Andrew Pearce

    CCD Observer · PEA · 22 reports · last 17158d ago

  • Donald E. Machholz

    Visual Observer · MAC · 18 reports · last 17507d ago

  • G. Ionas

    Visual Observer · ION · 3 reports · last 17483d ago

  • John E. Bortle

    Visual Observer · BOR · 3 reports · last 17520d ago

  • Albert F. Jones

    Visual Observer · JON · 2 reports · last 17533d ago

  • Kiyoshi Sakurai

    Visual Observer · SAK · 2 reports · last 17516d ago

  • N. Munford

    Visual Observer · MUN · 2 reports · last 17491d ago

  • Alan Hale

    Visual Observer · HAL · 1 reports · last 17522d ago

  • E. Everhart

    Visual Observer · EVE · 1 reports · last 17535d ago

  • I. Cooper

    Visual Observer · COO · 1 reports · last 17491d ago

  • Maurice L. Clark

    Visual Observer · CLA · 1 reports · last 17468d ago

  • Peter L. Collins

    Visual Observer · COL · 1 reports · last 17520d ago

  • Rudiger Schmidt

    Visual Observer · SCH · 1 reports · last 17535d ago

  • Tsutomu Seki

    Visual Observer · SEK · 1 reports · last 17532d ago

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