How to See Comet Iwamoto Fly Past Earth This Week

[2naSalit]

1. more...

Comet Iwamoto made its closest approach to the sun — a point in its orbit known as perihelion — on Feb. 7, when it swooped around our star at a distance of 26 million miles (42 million km). You can see Comet Iwamoto's path around the sun in the orbit animation above.

The comet is now visible in the evening sky with binoculars and small telescopes, and the best times to look for it will be on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (Feb. 12 to 13), according to the skywatching site EarthSky.org. After this close approach, comet watchers will need more powerful telescopes to keep an eye on the comet as it fades out of view on its way back out to the farthest reaches of the solar system.