Astro Bob
Rolando Ligustri
Comet Iwamoto Wriggles Into The Evening Sky
6 Feb 2019, 19:41 UTC
What may be the brightest comet of the year is currently making a sweep across the evening sky. Before you get too excited, the object, named C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto, is only bright relative to the other comets we’re expecting this year. None of those are predicted to breach the naked-eye limit and it’s unlikely C/2018 Y1 will either. In truth, we’re talking another fuzzball similar to 46P/Wirtanen that passed by the Seven Sisters cluster last December. Just like that comet, this one is also visible in binoculars.