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C/2026 B2

C/2026 B2 (Sun-Gao)

CometClass Ecatalogued
Southern hemisphere

Not currently visible. Last report 214 days ago at mag 18.2. Historic peak was mag 12.4. 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

Right ascension

05h 39m 47s

J2000

Declination

−15° 58′ 56″

J2000

Estimated magnitude

18.2

Professional survey · COBS consensus

Confidence

33

Class E · priority 60

Observations

28

Arc unknown

Last observation

214d ago

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 02:38:24 GMT · COBS consensus

Perihelion

2026-01-10

1.280 au

Peak window

2026-01-07 → 2026-01-13

COBS peak mag 12.4 on 2026-01-10 · perihelion 2026-01-10. Window is those dates ±3 days — not a light-curve fit.

Historic peak

12.4

COBS / analyzed peak 2026-01-10

Catalog ingest

16m ago

Venator last wrote this row 2026-11-07 03:00:09 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

1.280 au

e

0.9970

i

59.60°

Ω

235.00°

ω

47.30°

a

511.000 au

MOID

—

H

—

H0 / n

9.7 / 4

NEO score

—

PHA score

—

RMS

—

Elongation

127°

Reporting sources

  • COBS comet list

    ok

    Comet Observation Database magnitudes and perihelion data for the full COBS list (active and inactive).

  • COBS orbits

    ok

    Osculating elements and photometric parameters (H0, n) for active comets.

Name history

  • C/2026 B2 (Sun-Gao)

    Informal: Sun-Gao

    C/2026 B2 · 2026-09-13 22:21:23 UTC → current

Discoverers

  • Sun-Gao

    Discoverer · parsed-name · 2026-09-13 22:21:23 UTC → current

Contributors

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