Comet C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) above WSW Horizon

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Photographer:

Mike Olason

Location of Photo:

Denver, Colorado

Date/Time of photo:

16 December 2018, 0050UT

Equipment:

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

Description:

Comet C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) has now moved back into the evening twilight glare and will not be visible from Denver again during the night. These were the last images that I managed to collect of the comet on December 16 as it was 6 degrees above the WSW horizon almost lost in the evening glare. The comet was 115 million miles from Earth in these images. The comet had a faint tail to the upper right of the coma. The comet will fade to magnitude 20 by the end of next summer, it should become visible in the night sky for those in the Southern Hemisphere early this year, but it will probably be fainter than magnitude 18.