Would you like to see a comet or asteroid tonight?
Comets, asteroids and other Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are a fascinating sight to behold, if you can manage to spot one in the night sky.
Equipment: NikonZ6 Mod camera, Samyang 135mm lens. Comet (stacked): 60 photos (5sec, ISO 640, f2.8 ). Foreground: 5sec , Hdr
Many will remember the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in the 1990s, or much more recently, the beautiful sights of Comet NEOWISE and Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF that made headlines around the world and enticed us all to take a look up at the evening sky.
Asteroid Vesta, for example, is one member of the Asteroid Belt that can also be seen, provided you know where and when to look.
But how do you spot comets and asteroids in the night sky? Is there a comet tonight that's visible where you are?
Find out in our guide to which comets and asteroids are visible tonight and over the coming weeks.
For help understanding what our brightness indicators mean, read our guide to stellar magnitude.
If you're a complete beginner, get started with our guide to astronomy for beginners.
May 2026
Asteroid 2026 JH2
Near Earth Asteroid 2026 JH2 is set to skim past Earth on the evening of 18 May 2026.
It was discovered on 10 May 2026 by the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona, USA and NASA's Small-Body Database suggests 2026 JH2 is between 16–35 metres (50–115 feet) wide.
2026 JH2's close approach to Earth is expected to occur at 21:23 UTC on 18 May 2026, passing by at a distance of 90,000km.
Comet 10P/Tempel
Comet 10P/Tempel is currently visible in the early morning sky, passing under the eastern wing of Aquila, the Eagle. It starts May at mag. +11.4, approximately 4.2° south of mag. +3.4 Lambda (λ) Aquilae.
From here, it moves east at a rate of 0.5° or so per day, to end the month 7.4° south of mag. +3.3 Theta (θ) Aquilae and slightly brighter at mag. +9.8. It’s ideal for smaller telescopes, the biggest challenge being the increasing brightness of the late spring night sky.
Discovered on 4 July 1873, 10P/Tempel is a periodic Jupiter-family comet. These are comets with short periods of less than 20 years and orbits heavily influenced by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. Their orbits tend to be within that of Jupiter, having originated in the Kuiper Belt, outside the orbit of Neptune.
10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, has a 5.36-year orbit. Its nucleus is believed to be around 10.6km in diameter.
A favourable apparition in 1925 saw 10P/Temple brighten to mag. +6.5 – just below naked-eye visibility – as it passed within 52 million kilometres of Earth. Its next perihelion is on 2 August 2026, making its closest pass to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of 61.9 million kilometres.
At that time, the comet will be moving through Piscis Austrinus with an estimated peak magnitude of +7.7, dimming only slightly to mag. +8.1 by the end of that month.
Send us your comet images by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com.
