 Path of the comet C/2018 V1 across the sky, with a 7-day motion shown | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Donald Machholz Shigehisa Fujikawa Masayuki Iwamoto |
| Discovery site | Colfax, California Japan |
| Discovery date | 7 November 2018 |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch | 16 November 2018 (JD 2458438.5) |
| Observation arc | 37 days |
| Number of observations | 750 |
| Perihelion | 0.387 AU |
| Eccentricity | 1.00039 |
| Inclination | 143.988° |
| 128.722° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 88.775° |
| Last perihelion | 3 December 2018 |
| TJupiter | –0.624 |
| EarthMOID | 0.115 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 2.567 AU |
| Physical characteristics[2] | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 12.8 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 17.1 |
| 7.5 (2018 apparition) | |
C/2018 V1 (Machholz–Fujikawa–Iwamoto) is acomet that follows a slightlyhyperbolic trajectory. It was visually discovered on 7 November 2018 byDonald Machholz using an 18.5-inchreflecting telescope,[3][4] and was independently co-discovered byShigehisa Fujikawa andMasayuki Iwamoto respectively. It reached perihelion on 3 December 2018.
It was estimated to be between 8 and 10thmagnitude from mid-November to mid-December 2018, visible in a small telescope. It was discovered by three amateur astronomers: by an observer in Colfax, California, USA and by two observers in Japan.[5] The observations by three astronomers result in the name for the comet, Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto.[3][6] The current orbit determination of this comet is based on 750 observations with a 37-dayobservation arc.[1]
Comet C/2018 V1 has a significant probability (72.6%) of having an extrasolar provenance although an origin in theOort Cloud cannot be excluded.[7] As the present-day value of its barycentric orbital eccentricity is greater than 1, this comet is currently escaping from the Solar System, aiming for interstellar space.[7]
2018 in space | ||
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| Space probe launches  |
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| Impact events | ||
| SelectedNEOs | ||
| Exoplanets | ||
| Discoveries |
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| Space exploration |
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