Comet MASTER remains well placed from southern latitudes as it heads towards closest approach to Earth and perihelion in May. During the first half of the month it's visible towards the east just before sunrise, before switching to the evening sky for the last two weeks. It's then appears fairly high in the western sky after sunset. At its brightest MASTER should be visible to the naked eye and easily seen with binoculars.
Unfortunately, from northern temperate locations the comet is not visible until September when it will be extremely faint.
Location and star chart
The comet picks up pace during May as it moves through a handful of southerly constellations. It starts the month in Sculptor on an east-southeast trajectory before crossing into Fornax on May 8th. The next stop for MASTER is Eridanus where it arrives on May 14th. Three days later it briefly passes through Caelum before moving into Lepus on May 18th. Then comes Canis Major on May 22nd and finally the comet crosses into Monoceros on May 26th where it remains until June 7th.
It's predicted that MASTER will brighten from magnitude +7.0 at the beginning of May to a peak of magnitude +5.1 on May 15th. A few days either side of this it should be visible to the naked eye and an easy binocular and small scope target. On May 18th, the comet passes less than a degree north of mag. +8.1 globular cluster M79 in Lepus. It then passes just north of mag. +5.9 open cluster M50 on May 29th. Although fading to magnitude +6.3 by months end it remains bright and easily within binocular and small scope range. Of course, comets are unpredictable and anything could happen, so keep watching!
MASTER passes closest to Earth on May 13th at 70 million kilometres or 44 million miles distant before reaching perihelion on May 23rd when it's 115 million kilometres (72 million miles) from the Sun.
The finder charts below show the positions of comet MASTER from April 17 to June 11, 2015.
Comet MASTER (C/2015 Q2) Finder Chart from May 26th to June 11th, 2015 - pdf format
Comet MASTER (C/2015 Q2) Finder Chart from May 16th to May 26th, 2015 - pdf format
Comet MASTER (C/2015 Q2) Finder Chart from May 11th to May 16th, 2015 - pdf format
Comet MASTER (C/2015 Q2) Finder Chart from May 5th to May 11th, 2015 - pdf format
Comet MASTER (C/2015 Q2) Finder Chart from April 17th to May 5th, 2015 - pdf format
C/2015 G2 (MASTER) Data (at epoch April 8, 2015)
| Name | C/2015 G2 (MASTER) |
|---|---|
| Type | Comet |
| Discoverer | MASTER telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory |
| Discovery date | April 7, 2015 |
| Perihelion (AU) | 0.77972 |
| Eccentricity | 1.00000 |
| Orbital period (years) | Unknown |
| Inclination (degrees) | 147.631 |
| Longitude of ascending node (degrees) | 110.020 |
| Perihelion | May 23rd, 2015 |
Comet (C2015/G2) MASTER Data Table
| Date | Right Ascension | Declination | Mag. | Distance from Earth (AU) | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-May-2015 | 23h 37m 54s | -28d 19m 04s | 7.0 | 0.693 | Sculptor |
| 02-May-2015 | 23h 48m 35s | -29d 15m 11s | 6.8 | 0.663 | Sculptor |
| 03-May-2015 | 00h 00m 31s | -30d 12m 21s | 6.6 | 0.634 | Sculptor |
| 04-May-2015 | 00h 13m 51s | -31d 09m 33s | 6.4 | 0.607 | Sculptor |
| 05-May-2015 | 00h 28m 44s | -32d 05m 20s | 6.2 | 0.581 | Sculptor |
| 06-May-2015 | 00h 45m 19s | -32d 57m 44s | 6.0 | 0.557 | Sculptor |
| 07-May-2015 | 01h 03m 42s | -33d 44m 14s | 5.8 | 0.536 | Sculptor |
| 08-May-2015 | 01h 23m 55s | -34d 21m 44s | 5.6 | 0.517 | Sculptor |
| 09-May-2015 | 01h 45m 52s | -34d 46m 44s | 5.5 | 0.500 | Fornax |
| 10-May-2015 | 02h 09m 19s | -34d 55m 42s | 5.4 | 0.488 | Fornax |
| 11-May-2015 | 02h 33m 55s | -34d 45m 34s | 5.3 | 0.478 | Fornax |
| 12-May-2015 | 02h 59m 06s | -34d 14m 21s | 5.2 | 0.472 | Fornax |
| 13-May-2015 | 03h 24m 16s | -33d 21m 36s | 5.2 | 0.471 | Fornax |
| 14-May-2015 | 03h 48m 49s | -32d 08m 45s | 5.2 | 0.473 | Fornax |
| 15-May-2015 | 04h 12m 13s | -30d 38m 45s | 5.1 | 0.479 | Eridanus |
| 16-May-2015 | 04h 34m 05s | -28d 55m 40s | 5.1 | 0.489 | Eridanus |
| 17-May-2015 | 04h 54m 11s | -27d 03m 57s | 5.2 | 0.502 | Caelum |
| 18-May-2015 | 05h 12m 26s | -25d 07m 47s | 5.2 | 0.519 | Lepus |
| 19-May-2015 | 05h 28m 52s | -23d 10m 46s | 5.2 | 0.538 | Lepus |
| 20-May-2015 | 05h 43m 35s | -21d 15m 40s | 5.3 | 0.561 | Lepus |
| 21-May-2015 | 05h 56m 43s | -19d 24m 26s | 5.3 | 0.585 | Lepus |
| 22-May-2015 | 06h 08m 25s | -17d 38m 18s | 5.4 | 0.611 | Lepus |
| 23-May-2015 | 06h 18m 51s | -15d 57m 58s | 5.4 | 0.639 | Canis Major |
| 24-May-2015 | 06h 28m 11s | -14d 23m 41s | 5.5 | 0.669 | Canis Major |
| 25-May-2015 | 06h 36m 31s | -12d 55m 28s | 5.6 | 0.700 | Canis Major |
| 26-May-2015 | 06h 43m 59s | -11d 33m 06s | 5.7 | 0.731 | Canis Major |
| 27-May-2015 | 06h 50m 43s | -10d 16m 17s | 5.8 | 0.764 | Monoceros |
| 28-May-2015 | 06h 56m 46s | -09d 04m 39s | 5.9 | 0.797 | Monoceros |
| 29-May-2015 | 07h 02m 15s | -07d 57m 48s | 6.0 | 0.831 | Monoceros |
| 30-May-2015 | 07h 07m 13s | -06d 55m 22s | 6.1 | 0.865 | Monoceros |
| 31-May-2015 | 07h 11m 45s | -05d 56m 59s | 6.3 | 0.899 | Monoceros |
| 01-Jun-2015 | 07h 15m 52s | -05d 02m 17s | 6.4 | 0.934 | Monoceros |
| 02-Jun-2015 | 07h 19m 39s | -04d 10m 57s | 6.5 | 0.969 | Monoceros |
| 03-Jun-2015 | 07h 23m 06s | -03d 22m 41s | 6.6 | 1.004 | Monoceros |
| 04-Jun-2015 | 07h 26m 18s | -02d 37m 14s | 6.7 | 1.039 | Monoceros |
| 05-Jun-2015 | 07h 29m 14s | -01d 54m 21s | 6.9 | 1.074 | Monoceros |
| 06-Jun-2015 | 07h 31m 57s | -01d 13m 48s | 7.0 | 1.109 | Monoceros |
| 07-Jun-2015 | 07h 34m 28s | -00d 35m 25s | 7.1 | 1.143 | Monoceros |
| 08-Jun-2015 | 07h 36m 49s | 00d 00m 60s | 7.2 | 1.178 | Canis Minor |
| 09-Jun-2015 | 07h 39m 01s | 00d 35m 35s | 7.3 | 1.212 | Canis Minor |
| 10-Jun-2015 | 07h 41m 03s | 01d 08m 30s | 7.5 | 1.247 | Canis Minor |
| 11-Jun-2015 | 07h 42m 58s | 01d 39m 52s | 7.6 | 1.281 | Canis Minor |
| 12-Jun-2015 | 07h 44m 46s | 02d 09m 48s | 7.7 | 1.314 | Canis Minor |
| 13-Jun-2015 | 07h 46m 28s | 02d 38m 24s | 7.8 | 1.348 | Canis Minor |
| 14-Jun-2015 | 07h 48m 04s | 03d 05m 46s | 8.0 | 1.381 | Canis Minor |
| 15-Jun-2015 | 07h 49m 35s | 03d 31m 59s | 8.1 | 1.413 | Canis Minor |
| 16-Jun-2015 | 07h 51m 01s | 03d 57m 08s | 8.2 | 1.446 | Canis Minor |
| 17-Jun-2015 | 07h 52m 23s | 04d 21m 16s | 8.3 | 1.478 | Canis Minor |
| 18-Jun-2015 | 07h 53m 42s | 04d 44m 28s | 8.5 | 1.509 | Canis Minor |
| 19-Jun-2015 | 07h 54m 56s | 05d 06m 47s | 8.6 | 1.540 | Canis Minor |
| 20-Jun-2015 | 07h 56m 07s | 05d 28m 16s | 8.7 | 1.571 | Canis Minor |
| 21-Jun-2015 | 07h 57m 16s | 05d 48m 59s | 8.8 | 1.602 | Canis Minor |
| 22-Jun-2015 | 07h 58m 21s | 06d 08m 57s | 9.0 | 1.632 | Canis Minor |
| 23-Jun-2015 | 07h 59m 24s | 06d 28m 15s | 9.1 | 1.661 | Canis Minor |
| 24-Jun-2015 | 08h 00m 25s | 06d 46m 53s | 9.2 | 1.691 | Canis Minor |
| 25-Jun-2015 | 08h 01m 24s | 07d 04m 54s | 9.3 | 1.719 | Canis Minor |
| 26-Jun-2015 | 08h 02m 21s | 07d 22m 20s | 9.4 | 1.748 | Cancer |
| 27-Jun-2015 | 08h 03m 16s | 07d 39m 13s | 9.6 | 1.776 | Cancer |
| 28-Jun-2015 | 08h 04m 09s | 07d 55m 34s | 9.7 | 1.803 | Cancer |
| 29-Jun-2015 | 08h 05m 01s | 08d 11m 26s | 9.8 | 1.830 | Cancer |
| 30-Jun-2015 | 08h 05m 52s | 08d 26m 49s | 9.9 | 1.857 | Cancer |
See also
Comet MASTER (C/2015 G2) a naked eye comet for May 2015