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C/1983 O2

C/1983 O2 (IRAS)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 15528 days ago at mag 38.3. Historic peak was mag 16.2. 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

38.3

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

6

Arc unknown

Last observation

15528d ago

Mon, 12 Mar 1984 17:31:12 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1983-11-22

2.200 au

Peak window

1983-11-19 → 1984-02-28

COBS peak mag 16.2 on 1984-02-25 · perihelion 1983-11-22. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

16.2

COBS / analyzed peak 1984-02-25

Catalog ingest

12h 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.

No tail measures stored yet for this object.

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

2.200 au

e

0.9990

i

121.00°

Ω

201.00°

ω

334.00°

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/1983 O2 (IRAS)

    Informal: IRAS

    C/1983 O2 · 2026-09-14 18:27:58 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • IRAS

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

Contributors

  • Andrew Pearce

    CCD Observer · PEA · 4 reports · last 15528d ago

  • Alan Hale

    Visual Observer · HAL · 1 reports · last 15530d ago

  • Charles S Morris

    Visual Observer · MOR · 1 reports · last 15530d ago

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