Encke's Comet will be visible only from the southern hemisphere within two months of its June 26 perihelion. In 2020 there'll be three relatively bright comets gracing the sky: PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2), 2P/Encke, and 88P/Howell. Comet Africano (C/2018 W2) pulled through at a respectable 8th magnitude in late September, while Comets 38/Stephan-Oterma, PanSTARRS (C/2016 M1), 64P/Swift-Gehrels, and PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2) achieved magnitude 10. 16, 2018.īright comets in 2019 included 46P/Wirtanen - a 5th magnitude holdover from 2018 - and long-period Comet Iwamoto (C/2018 Y1), which reached 6th magnitude last February. A few fortunate souls with 16-inch, and larger, telescopes scrounged up this 14.5-magnitude object in late December.Īh, the good old days of naked-eye comets! 46P/Wirtanen (left) and the Pleiades star cluster on Dec. Not a single one of the new discoveries was bright enough to see in amateur equipment, save for 2019's most famous visitor, interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. Last year, amateur and professional astronomers discovered about 50 new comets (some still await confirmation), and recovered 17 returning visitors. But get ready for 2020 - it may be even leaner. If you think 2019 skimped on bright comets, you're right. Fragilely composed of honeycombed dust and ice, a comet is liable to crumble into a beautiful mess at any moment, especially when passing near its nemesis, the Sun.Įach year I eagerly look forward to the next batch of returning comets and maybe a bright discovery or two. Changes in brightness, color and tail length reveal just how dynamic these objects are. You never know exactly what to expect when you point telescope at one. I'm a soft touch for their beauty and changeability. Wikipedia / Public domainĬomets have long been my favorite type of sky object. Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1), the most recent "Great Comet," photographed on Janufrom Western Australia.
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