On Sunday, December 16, 2018, comet 46P/Wirtanen will make a close pass of Earth. The comet will be at its closest distance to our planet in over four centuries, and you may even be able to see it without a telescope.
This 120 second image of comet 46P/Wirtanen was taken December 2, 2018 by an iTelescope 50 mm refractor located at an observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. The streak below the comet was produced by a rocket body (upper stage) passing through the telescope’s field of view during the exposure. Specifically, the upper stage is the one that placed the Indonesian Garuda 1 communications satellite into geostationary orbit back in February of 2000. At the time of this image, the Garuda 1 upper stage was 15,880 miles (25,556 km) from the observatory; 46P/Wirtanen was 10.3 million miles (16.6 million km) distant. Image credit: NASA.
46P/Wirtanen was discovered on January 17, 1948, by the American astronomer Carl Wirtanen.
This comet is a member of the Jupiter family of comets — their farthest point from the Sun being near the orbit of Jupiter.
With a width of 0.7 miles (1.1 km), it orbits the Sun fairly quickly for a comet — once every 5.4 years — making it a short-period comet.
Although the December 16 approach will be a distant 7.1 million miles (11.4 million km, or 30 lunar distances) from Earth, it’s still a fairly rare opportunity.
At the time of the closest approach, the comet will appear to be located in the constellation Taurus close to the Pleiades.
“This will be the closest 46P/Wirtanen has come to Earth for centuries and the closest it will come to Earth for centuries,” said Dr. Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“What’s more, this could be one of the brightest comets in years, offering astronomers an important opportunity to study a comet up close with ground-based telescopes, both optical and radar.”
“This comet has already been visible in larger amateur telescopes, and while the brightness of comets is notoriously difficult to predict, there is the possibility that during its close approach comet 46P/Wirtanen could be visible with binoculars or to the naked eye.”
An observation campaign is underway to take advantage of the close approach for detailed scientific study of the properties of this ‘hyperactive’ comet, which emits more water than expected, given its relatively small nucleus.
Led by University of Maryland astronomers, the campaign has worldwide participation across the professional and amateur astronomical communities.
