New Comet V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto Takes Observers by Surprise

By David Dickinson - November 16, 2018 03:39 AM UTC | Observing
You just never know when it comes to comets. Here it is, mid-November, and we'd thought we had finished up writing about bright comets for 2018. That was, until this past weekend, when a flurry of messages flashed across the Yahoo! Comets mailing list hinting that a new, possibly bright comet had been discovered. Come Monday morning November 12th, long period Comet C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto was formally added to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet list.
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Comet 46P Wirtanen Rounds Out 2018

By David Dickinson - October 31, 2018 11:56 AM UTC | Planetary Science
One. More. Comet. Though the next great 'Comet of the Century' has yet to make its appearance in 2018, we've had a steady stream of binocular comets this year, including Comets C/2017 S3 PanSTARRS, 38P Stephan-Oterma, and 21P Giacobini-Zinner. Now, the calendar year may have saved the best for last, as periodic Comet 46P Wirtanen takes center stage.
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