If you're interested in the Universe and comets, you'll be really interested in learning one of the best and simplest methods to track comets in their current, past, and future positions. For that, we'll use the website Comets by The Sky Live, which has accurate information about more than 100 known comets.
This way, you'll know, for example, whether comets will be visible from your point on Earth and if you'll be able to see them with the naked eye or if you'll need binoculars. The platform also offers you the comet's altitude according to your location, the orbit, and the times of maximum and minimum altitude at your location, among other options.
How to Track a Comet?
Once you go to the Comets by The Sky Live webpage, you'll see that comets are listed in decreasing order of brightness. If you're looking for a specific comet, you can find it using the search box. When you enter the information for a comet, you'll get an image, the right ascension, declination, magnitude, altitude in degrees, the 3D orbit, visibility status, and type of visibility (binoculars or naked eye).
To track a comet, you need to go to the page that lists the comet thumbnails. At the bottom of each thumbnail, you'll find four options, and you'll need to select Tracker. At this point, an enlarged image of the thumbnail will open, and there you'll see the comet's current position, along with past and future positions (according to your location on the planet).
In the upper left of the interface, you can see the current position and all the comet's information: right ascension, declination, magnitude, constellation, distance from the Sun, distance from Earth, and so on. You'll also find the Planetarium option, which shows you in a 3D view the comet's current position at your location. In this perspective, you'll get the position of the Moon, stars, and constellations, making it very easy to locate the celestial body's trajectory in the sky.
Going back to the comet thumbnails, among the four lower options you'll also find the 3D orbit service. This option shows you the comet's orbital path in 3D around our solar system. With the mouse wheel, you can zoom in or out toward the Sun. At the bottom, you'll see the current date and time for your location, so you can observe the current orbital position of the celestial body (you'll also get past and future positions).
Comets by The Sky Live is a very good comet tracking website. But if you want to go a bit further, the site offers you a lot of information about the universe.
