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C/1998 K2

C/1998 K2 (LINEAR)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Unknown

Not currently visible. Last report 9699 days ago at mag 33.9. Historic peak was mag 12.1. 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

33.9

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

36

Arc unknown

Last observation

9699d ago

Sun, 27 Feb 2000 10:33:36 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

1998-08-19

2.360 au

Peak window

1998-06-22 → 1998-08-22

COBS peak mag 12.1 on 1998-06-25 · perihelion 1998-08-19. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

12.1

COBS / analyzed peak 1998-06-25

Catalog ingest

2d ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-09-14 20:00:18 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

2.360 au

e

0.9970

i

64.10°

Ω

68.60°

ω

222.00°

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/1998 K2 (LINEAR)

    Informal: LINEAR

    C/1998 K2 · 2026-09-14 18:27:58 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • LINEAR

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

Contributors

  • Nicolas Biver

    Visual Observer · BIV · 16 reports · last 10280d ago

  • Michael Mattiazzo

    Visual Observer · MAT08 · 7 reports · last 10277d ago

  • Akimasa Nakamura

    CCD Observer · NAK01 · 6 reports · last 9699d ago

  • Alan Hale

    Visual Observer · HAL · 4 reports · last 10308d ago

  • David Seargent

    Visual Observer · SEA · 2 reports · last 10285d ago

  • Elia Cozzi

    CCD Observer · COZ · 1 reports · last 10277d ago

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