The next bright comet?

Predicting which comets will brighten is notoriously hard

Whenever the subject of observing comets comes up, there’s always one thing that every astronomer wants to know: when’s the next bright one going to appear in our skies. Professor Laura Woodney suggests C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) could be one to keep an eye on. “Given the way it has been increasing in brightness since its discovery, it is currently on track to be a sixth magnitude object in 2023. While that’s not nearly as bright as C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now, 2017 K2 is still at [roughly] 8.5 AU, so lots of things could happen as it nears the Sun and water sublimation [begins] in a few years,” she says. “Maybe it will break up or fizzle, maybe it will only be interesting for telescope observations – or maybe it will become bright enough for all to see. We’ll just have to wait!”