Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)

During 2004 the comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) is expected to become a bright naked eye comet. Starting out in the Southern Hemisphere where it expected to brighten considerably to magnitude 1the comet will quickly pass Earth's orbit and move to the Northern Hemisphere.

Skip to Image Archive of C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)

When to observe Q4?
The best date for viewing Q4 will of course depend on your location. However for southern hemisphere viewers the show is all but over. Comet C/2001 Q4 peaked at it's brightest at about the 5th May 2004 and has since rapidly moved north, now giving excellent views to those in the northern hemisphere.

For the estimated brightness and position of Q4 on a particular day refer to the Ephremedes.

The best time for observing Q4 is currently soon after sunset extending to a few hours beyond sunset, and is expected to remain this way throughout Q4's visit.

Will I see a big comet tail on Q4?
As images across the web have been showing, Q4 has a nice blue/aqua/white tail that is distinctly visible. Q4 has a relatively broad tail compard to it's companion comet T7 (visible in the sky at the same time as Q4). In comparison T7 has shown quite a narrow long tail. See the images below for what Q4's tail has been appearing as.

Orbit of C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)

	Orbit Viewer View the orbit of C/2001 Q4 to see why it is starting so far south and going to move so quickly north once it brightens in April 2004.
	Ephremedes View the ephremedes for C/2001 Q4 to see where it is in the sky right now and how bright it should appear.

Archive of C/2001 Q4 Images

	25th May 2004 Update. This image was taken on the 12th May 2004. Taken from the hills of Perth, Western Australia this was shot relatively low on the western horizon through the glow and smog of Perth. This shows how bright the comet actually was. At the time Q4 was visible to the naked eye, even in these conditions.
	25 May 2004 update. Image taken on the 11 May 2004. This image shows some of the great blue colour of Q4. Very short exposures of Q4 have produced quite nice colour. Images from 2 minutes through 10 minutes have provided great colour. 10 minutes or more gives nice detail of the comet. See the image for more exposure details.
	20th April 2004 update. Image taken on the 9th April. Q4 continues to shine brightly in our southern skies. Easily visible to the naked eye if you are out in the country and even possible in some city suburbs. This image, taken back on the 9th of April shows the comet almost a month ago now. Significantly brighter now on the 2nd May expect more wonderful images of this comet to appear all over the internet.
	30th December 2003
	12th January 2004
	26th January 2004

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