iTelescope ALERT! comet C/2018 W2 (Africano) near Neptune (4 Oct UT)

C/2018 W2 (Africano) as seen from Adelaide on 4 October at 19:47 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset) similar views will be seen elsewhere at 90 minutes after sunset. Click to embiggen.

C/2018 W2 (Africano) has a close approach to the planet Neptune on the 4th of October UT.Both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere have good views at Astronomical twilight. In the Southern Hemisphere the pair get higher as the evening goes on, but the comet moves further away from Neptune.

The pair are closest at 4:25 UT on the 4th (UT). They are close to phi Aquarii, which makes a handy guide to find them.

The MPC one line ephemeris is:

 CK18W020 2019 09 05.7286 1.454687 1.000777 157.9721 181.8498 116.6157 20190825 9.5 4.0 C/2018 W2 (Africano)

Ephemeris of comet C/2018 W2 Africano from SSO on 4 October
Time Geo R.A. Geo Dec Altitude 
19:47:00 23h 07m 37.9s -06° 10' 03" +42° 24' 55" 
20:47:00 23h 07m 22.9s -06° 16' 32" +52° 35' 05" 
21:47:00 23h 07m 07.9s -06° 23' 01" +59° 42' 28" 
22:47:00 23h 06m 52.9s -06° 29' 28" +61° 20' 04" 
23:47:00 23h 06m 37.9s -06° 35' 55" +56° 38' 48" 
00:47:00 23h 06m 23.0s -06° 42' 21" +47° 44' 12" 
01:47:00 23h 06m 08.1s -06° 48' 45" +36° 45' 30" 
02:47:00 23h 05m 53.2s -06° 55' 09" +24° 51' 30" 
03:47:00 23h 05m 38.4s -07° 01' 32" +12° 37' 31" 
04:47:00 23h 05m 23.6s -07° 07' 55" +00° 43' 12" 

Ephemeris of comet C/2018 W2 Africano from Mayhill on 3 October (4 Oct UT)

Time Geo R.A. Geo Dec Altitude 
19:11:00 23h 09m 40.9s -05° 16' 58" +30° 51' 50" 
20:11:00 23h 09m 25.6s -05° 23' 34" +40° 47' 52" 
21:11:00 23h 09m 10.3s -05° 30' 09" +48° 10' 21" 
22:11:00 23h 08m 55.1s -05° 36' 44" +51° 25' 54" 
23:11:00 23h 08m 39.9s -05° 43' 18" +49° 32' 45" 
00:11:00 23h 08m 24.7s -05° 49' 51" +43° 08' 12" 
01:11:00 23h 08m 09.6s -05° 56' 23" +33° 45' 13" 
02:11:00 23h 07m 54.5s -06° 02' 54" +22° 40' 19" 
03:11:00 23h 07m 39.4s -06° 09' 24" +10° 40' 57" 
04:11:00 23h 07m 24.4s -06° 15' 53" -01° 55' 44"