Comet 48P/Johnson Gif at Perihelion

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Photographer:

Mike Olason

Location of Photo:

Denver, Colorado

Date/Time of photo:

11 August 2018, 0813UT

Equipment:

11" SCT f/6.4 and STF-8300M CCD Camera

Description:

In this gif Comet 48P/Johnson was 95 million miles from Earth and magnitude 12.9 moving only 0.21 degrees per day across Earth's Sky. One day after these images were collected 48P reached perihelion in its 6.54 year orbit when it was 186 million miles from the Sun. Unless 48P surprises us Earthlings it will now slowly start to fade and be about magnitude 16 at the start of the New Year.