C/2012 E2
C/2012 E2 (SWAN)
Not currently visible. Last report 4381 days ago at mag 32.9. Historic peak was mag -11.4. Typical backyard telescopes will not show it. HST, JWST, or an 8–10 m class telescope might recover it with a good ephemeris.
Right ascension
—
J2000
Declination
—
J2000
Estimated magnitude
32.9
Professional survey · COBS consensus
Confidence
33
Class E · priority 60
Observations
1
Arc unknown
Last observation
4381d ago
Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:26:23 GMT · COBS consensus
Perihelion
2012-03-15
0.007 au
Peak window
2012-03-12 → 2012-03-18
COBS peak mag -11.4 on 2012-03-15 · perihelion 2012-03-15. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.
Historic peak
-11.4
COBS / analyzed peak 2012-03-15
Catalog ingest
12h 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.
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
0.007 au
e
1.0000
i
144.00°
Ω
7.71°
ω
83.30°
a
—
MOID
—
H
—
H0 / n
—
NEO score
—
PHA score
—
RMS
—
Elongation
—
Reporting sources
COBS comet list
okComet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).
Name history
C/2012 E2 (SWAN)
Informal: SWAN
C/2012 E2 · 2026-09-14 18:27:55 UTC → current
Discoverers
Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:55 UTC → current
Contributors
Visual Observer · HAR11 · 1 reports · last 4381d ago
Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.