Posted on by David Dickinson

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

Comet V1 Machholz
Comet C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto in Virgo from November 10th, 2018. Image credit and copyright: Hisayoshi Kato.

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.
Continue reading “New Comet V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto Takes Observers by Surprise”

Posted on by David Dickinson

Comet 46P Wirtanen Rounds Out 2018

Comet Wirtanen
Comet 46P Wirtanen in Cetus from September, 2018. Image credit and copyright: Hisayoshi Kato.

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. Continue reading “Comet 46P Wirtanen Rounds Out 2018”