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C/1978 T1

C/1978 T1 (Seargent)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 17429 days ago at mag 35.4. Historic peak was mag 3.7. 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

35.4

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

75

Arc unknown

Last observation

17430d ago

Thu, 28 Dec 1978 12:57:35 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1978-08-18

0.385 au

Peak window

1978-08-15 → 1978-08-21

COBS peak mag 3.7 on 1978-08-18 · perihelion 1978-08-18. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

3.7

COBS / analyzed peak 1978-08-18

Catalog ingest

11h 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

0.385 au

e

0.9990

i

66.50°

Ω

41.30°

ω

208.00°

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 T1 (Seargent)

    Informal: Seargent

    C/1978 T1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Seargent

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

Contributors

  • Albert F. Jones

    Visual Observer · JON · 31 reports · last 17459d ago

  • Andrew Pearce

    CCD Observer · PEA · 17 reports · last 17430d ago

  • Maurice L. Clark

    Visual Observer · CLA · 14 reports · last 17476d ago

  • D. Buckley

    Visual Observer · BUC · 4 reports · last 17492d ago

  • N. Munford

    Visual Observer · MUN · 4 reports · last 17491d ago

  • Vicente de Assis Neto

    Visual Observer · DEA · 4 reports · last 17481d ago

  • Basil Nikolau

    Visual Observer · NIK · 3 reports · last 17491d ago

  • Leo Boethin

    Visual Observer · BOE · 3 reports · last 17432d ago

  • T. B. Tregaskis

    Visual Observer · TRE · 3 reports · last 17507d ago

  • D. Heath

    Visual Observer · HEA · 2 reports · last 17495d ago

  • I. Cooper

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

  • A. Verveer

    Visual Observer · VER · 1 reports · last 17516d ago

  • Bruce Sumner

    Visual Observer · SUM · 1 reports · last 17515d ago

  • D. Herald

    Visual Observer · HER · 1 reports · last 17516d ago

  • David Seargent

    Visual Observer · SEA · 1 reports · last 17517d ago

  • Dennis Goodman

    Visual Observer · GOO · 1 reports · last 17516d ago

  • J. da S. Campos

    Visual Observer · CAM · 1 reports · last 17495d ago

  • Murray L. Parkinson

    Visual Observer · PAR · 1 reports · last 17508d ago

  • Terry Hickey

    Visual Observer · HIC · 1 reports · last 17505d ago

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