C/1946 U1
C/1946 U1 (Bester)
Not currently visible. Last report 28873 days ago at mag 40.6. 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.
Right ascension
—
J2000
Declination
—
J2000
Estimated magnitude
40.6
Professional survey · COBS consensus
Confidence
33
Class E · priority 60
Observations
22
Arc unknown
Last observation
28873d ago
Sun, 19 Oct 1947 21:50:24 GMT · COBS consensus
Perihelion
1947-02-17
2.470 au
Peak window
1946-11-24 → 1947-02-20
COBS peak mag 16.2 on 1946-11-27 · perihelion 1947-02-17. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.
Historic peak
16.2
COBS / analyzed peak 1946-11-27
Catalog ingest
15h ago
Venator last wrote this row 2026-11-06 14:20:21 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
2.470 au
e
1.0000
i
109.00°
Ω
35.20°
ω
349.00°
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/1946 U1 (Bester)
Informal: Bester
C/1946 U1 · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current
Discoverers
Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-14 18:27:57 UTC → current
Contributors
Visual Observer · BEY · 21 reports · last 28873d ago
Visual Observer · MAR23 · 1 reports · last 28881d ago
Pips are observation weight on this object (log of report count). Hover for catalog-wide weight.