☄️ Comets we're tracking — refreshed each apparition
Positions and magnitudes are computed in your browser from published orbital elements (Minor Planet Center / aerith.net), so this page works offline in the dome. Comets fade and new ones appear — each entry carries a review date; once past its window a comet drops off the "up tonight" list automatically.
🔭 How to show a comet — 20-second docent script
A comet is a city-sized ball of ice and dust that grows a glowing head (coma) and sometimes a tail as it nears the Sun and its ices boil off. In a Jurong-bright sky most comets are a soft, tailless smudge, not a sharp point — so set expectations before the eyepiece.
Use low power (wide field) first to find and frame it, then step up only if the coma takes magnification. Averted vision — looking slightly to the side — pulls out far more of the faint glow than staring straight at it. Comets show best in the dark of the Moon; a bright Moon or nearby haze washes the coma flat. The deck Seestar S30 or the 6" apo and binoculars usually beat the big scope for a diffuse comet, because they give the low power and wide field a comet wants.