Comet Oukaimeden, which was discovered at the end of last year, has recently brightened sufficiently to move within binocular and small telescope range. During September, the comet should continue to improve until peaking at about magnitude +6.0 on the 19th, just short of naked eye visibility. It can be seen from the tropics and southern locations.

At the beginning of the month, Oukaimeden appeared as a well-placed morning object high in the sky towards the east before sunrise from the tropics and Southern Hemisphere. As the month progresses, it draws in towards the Sun but still remains well placed for at least the first two weeks of the month before switching to the evening sky. It should then be visible low down above the western horizon just after sunset during the last week of September.

From mid-latitude northern latitudes, Oukaimeden is not suitably placed for observation. It was visible for the first few days of September, low down towards the eastern sky during morning twilight, but then quickly lost to the Sun's glare.

Discovery

Oukaimeden was discovered on November 12, 2013 at Oukaimeden observatory in Marrakech, Morocco using a 0.5-metre (20-inch) reflecting telescope by Michel Ory. It was the fourth comet discovered at the observatory and the first by Michel Ory. At apparent magnitude +19.4, Oukaimeden was extremely faint when found.

Location and star chart

Oukaimeden started September at magnitude +8.4 in Monoceros, heading in a southeasterly direction against the "fixed" background stars. It was faintly visible with 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars but much easier with telescopes, appearing as a smaller and fainter version of another current comet, Jacques (C/2014 E2). Oukaimeden then moved into Puppis on September 7th where it remains for 3 days. The next stop on its journey is Hydra, the largest of all modern 88 constellations. The comet stays in Hydra until September 22nd, apart from a short diversion of less than 24 hours into Antlia on September 16th. From September 22nd to 27th it moves through Centaurus before returning back to Hydra, where it remains for the rest of the month.

On 16 September 2014, Oukaimeden will pass 0.480 AU (71.8 million kilometres or 44.6 million miles) from the Earth and will reach perihelion on September 28th when it's 0.625 AU (93.5 million kilometres or 58.1 million miles) distant from the Sun.

The finder chart below shoes the positions of Oukaimeden from September 8th to 15th, 2014.

Comet Oukaimeden (C/2013 V5) Finder Chart from Sep 8th to Sep 15th, 2014 - pdf format

C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) Data (at epoch Dec 9, 2014)

Comet (C/2013 V5) Oukaimeden Data Table