Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was definitely the comet of the year, one of the best in a couple of decades. Hovering low in the morning sky before dawn, then, later in July making its evening appearance low in the northwest sky after sunset, it provided hauntingly beautiful views of the night sky. Not much impresses... Continue Reading →
This has been quite a year. Now, add to this a bright new comet, and it gets a little better, yes? Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE: Named after the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer’s asteroid hunting mission [https://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/], this comet has become visible to the unaided eye, and, for now, is a morning object rising just... Continue Reading →
Comet Wirtanen has been giving us a moderate showing this time around the Sun. As it has been closer to Earth than it usually gets, we are enjoying a comet that might just get bright enough by December 16th to see without a pair of binoculars. Last night we checked it out through the school’s... Continue Reading →
Don Machholz, Shigehisa Fujikawa and Masayuki Iwamoto have confirmed a new comet which might very well become bright enough to see without optical aid. Stand by for updates here in the coming days as the orbital elements and ephemeris are corrected. The comet has been designated: MPEC 2018-V151: COMET C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) More information from the... Continue Reading →
It appears that we might just have a bright comet for the end of 2018 and into the start of 2019: Comet 46P/Wirtanen. With a short period of just about 5.4 years, this time around the Sun, it will be very close to Earth (a mere 0.07AU or 11.6 million km) and enjoying its perihelion,... Continue Reading →
