When is the next time a comet will be visible in the U.S.?

Question

When is the next time a comet will be visible in the U.S.?

Answer 1

unknown comets arrive all the time ,so it could be next week.

Answer 2

In the northern hemisphere, 17P/Holmes is now visible in the early morning sky at 6th magnitude; it will reach 5th magnitude by Novermber. Any comet that will be brighter than that in the next 5 years has not been discovered yet.  

Answer 3

I did a report on comets and the Halley's Comet is going to be seen on the year 2061.  I hope I am still around to see it.

Answer 4

Aside from Comet Halley, bright comets are unexpected visitors from the outer solar system. Depending on the size and orbit of the comet, we get anywhere from zero to several years advance notice of one's appearance. Astronomy news sites such As http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_t... and http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news will carry the news. A more thorough source of comet information is at http://www.skyhound.com/cometchasing/ind... , where you can get information on comets currently visible in binoculars and telescopes.

Answer 5

2061 when Hailey's comet comes around again.

I'll be 87 when Hailey's comet passes around again, i hope i have a chance to see it again a second time.

Answer 6

2008 comet prospects should only reach the range of binocular viewing magnitudes.  But nobody expected to see Comet Holmes last summer, when it became an easy naked eye object.  

Quote from  http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:SC8u... :

"Theories on the structure of comets suggest that any comet could fragment at any time,so it is worth keeping an eye on some of the fainter periodic comets, which are often ignored."

The truth is, there are repeated "unknown" comets that make appearances that we simply cannot anticipate, seeing how we do not know of their existence.  Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp fell into this category in the late 1990's, and there are sure to be more.

As far as known retuning comets go, it may take a while before any naked eye ones become visible, and when you narrow your observing site to strictly the United States, this can diminish even farther...  and if you're only interested in "spectecularily bright" amazing ones with long easily discernable tails with the naked eye, your wait could get much longer.