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Comet 104P/Kowal (P=5.75a) will pass perihelion in the solar distance of 1.07 AU on Jan. 11, 2022, expected to reach magnitude 10. At the end of January it will approach Earth to within 0.64 AU. It should be brighter than 14 mag between October 2021 and March 2022, thereby moving through the constellations Aquarius, Cetus, Taurus and Orion. It will be visible in the evening sky during the whole apparition.
The comet became an object which could be glimpsed in smaller instruments for several weeks. According to 236 observations from 48 observers the comet experienced a very rapid increase in activity pre-perihelion, followed by a much slower decline post-perihelion. The brightness development can be described with the formulae:
pre-perihelion: m = 9.8 mag + 5×log D + 34×log r
post-perihelion: m = 10.4 mag + 5×log D + 6.8×log r
The coma diameter increased very steadily from 1' (35.000 km) at the end of November 2021 to its maximum of 8' (225.000 km) in mid-January 2022. Thereafter it decreased in a similar manner, reaching short of 1' (50.000 km) in early May. The coma was only weakly condensed. The degree of condensation was constant at DC 3-4 until mid-February 2022, decreasing to DC 2 in early April. Between mid-January and end of February 2022 CCD observers could detect a tail up to 5' (200.000 km) long, pointing towards East.
Andreas Kammerer