Although just beyond naked eye visibility, comet Jacques has recently put on a fine display for binocular and telescope observers. During August the comet was high in the sky from northern locations - even circumpolar in many cases - as it passed through the constellations of Auriga, Perseus, Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia and Cepheus.

With 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars Jacques appeared as an out of focus "fuzzy" ball of light. Small telescopes of the order of 80mm (3.1-inch) aperture showed a bright centre, diffuse coma with hints of a short thin tail that was better seen through larger instruments. Photographically the comet appeared green in colour with a bright coma and narrow tail extending many degrees.

Now fading, Jacques remains high in the sky from northern and tropical locations throughout September. From the Southern Hemisphere, it reappears low down in the northern part of the sky at the beginning of the month with the visibility improving each day.

The comet remains visible with telescopes during September, although binocular observers may struggle to spot it towards the end of the month. It's expected to fade from magnitude +7.6 to +9.9 during this time. However, comets are unpredictable objects and almost anything can happen, so keep watching!

Location and star chart

After recently passing north of the "W" of Cassiopeia and to within a degree of the Garnet star in Cepheus, Jacques moved in Cygnus on September 2nd. The comet is now heading south-westerly and on September 5th will be located 2.5 degrees west/northwest of the brightest star in the constellation, Deneb (α Cyg - mag. +1.25) which also forms one corner of the "Summer Triangle" asterism. Jacques then continues its path through the rich Milky Way star fields of Cygnus before moving into Vulpecula on February 14th, Sagitta on September 21st and Aquila on September 24th, where it stays for the remainder of the month.

The finder chart below shows the positions of Jacques from September 1 to September 9, 2014.

Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) Finder Chart from Sep 1st to Sep 9th, 2014 - pdf format

C/2014 E2 (Jacques) Data (at epoch May 23, 2014)

Comet (C/2014 E2) Jacques Data Table

See also

Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) now within small telescope range
Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) visible with binoculars and small scopes
Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) moves north, remains visible with binoculars
Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) passes north of the "W" of Cassiopeia
Comet Jacques (C/2014 E2) high in the sky during September