Comet 273P/2012 V4 (Pons-Gambart) at magnitude 9.0 will pass 2.09° from the magnitude 5.0 open cluster IC 4756 in the constellation Serpens, at 04:00 UT, 31st January, 2013.
Comet 273P/2012 V4 (Pons-Gambart) at magnitude 12.3 will pass 1.27° from the magnitude 10.0 open cluster NGC 6683 in the constellation Scutum, at 00:00 UT, 11th January, 2013.
Comet 273P/2012 V4 (Pons-Gambart) at magnitude 12.3 will pass 1.81° from the magnitude 5.8 open cluster M11 in the constellation Scutum, at 00:00 UT, 11th January, 2013.
This comet was discovered by Jean Louis Pons (Florence, Italy) and Adolphe Gambart (Marseilles, France) on June 21, 1827. Although no system was in place to estimate comet brightnesses at that time, various astronomers have since suggested the comet was then between magnitude 5 and 6. Orbital calculations revealed the comet passed closest to the sun on June 8, 1827. Following the discovery it steadily faded. The comet was seen for the final time on July 21 by Pons. Read more
Comet C/2012 V4 was recovered by T. Lovejoy on the 29th November, 2012. The preliminary orbital elements of the comet indicate a perihelion passage on the 19th December, 2012 at a distance of approximately 0.8 AU from the Sun, and an orbital period of 62.15 years.