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A report of the Comet Section (Director: N. D. James). In this report, observations of the brighter or more interesting comets at perihelion during 2016 are described and analysed, concentrating on those visually observed. Magnitude parameters are given for all comets with observations. Any evolution in the magnitude parameters of those periodic comets with multiple returns is discussed. Additional information on the comets discussed here, and on other comets seen or at perihelion during the year, may be found on the Section’s visual observations web pages.

Gamma-2 Andromedae, the blue partner in the beautiful coloured double star Almach, is itself one of the most famous revolving binaries in the heavens: O-Epsilon 38. Always a challenging target for visual observation in sub-metre-class telescopes, this system has recently been going through periastron and has been irresolvable. As it begins to open out again, the time seems ripe to present the author’s observations of the last 26 years, as an encouragement to others to follow this beautiful but difficult orbital system.