Posted on 12/15/2018 9:47:16 AM PST by ETL
On Sunday, Dec. 16, the comet known as 46P/Wirtanen will make one of the 10 closest comet flybys of Earth in 70 years, and you may even be able to see it without a telescope.
Although the approach will be a distant 7.1 million miles (11.4 million kilometers, or 30 lunar distances) from Earth, it's still a fairly rare opportunity. "This will be the closest comet Wirtanen has come to Earth for centuries and the closest it will come to Earth for centuries," said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. What's more, Chodas said, "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."
Comet Wirtanen 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 Wirtanen could be visible with binoculars or to the naked eye.
Astronomer Carl Wirtanen discovered the comet in 1948 at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton in Santa Clara County, California. With a width of 0.7 miles (1.1 kilometers), 46P/Wirtanen orbits the Sun fairly quickly for a comet - once every 5.4 years - making it a short-period comet. (Long-period comets, on the other hand, have orbital periods greater than 200 years.) At the time of closest approach, the comet will appear to be located in the constellation Taurus close to the Pleiades.
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. The campaign, led by the University of Maryland, has worldwide participation across the professional and amateur astronomical communities. NASA-sponsored ground, air and space-based observatories getting in on the action include NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California; the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Maunakea, Hawaii; the Hubble, Chandra, Swift and Spitzer space telescopes; and an airborne observatory known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The comet will even pass through the observing field of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
Explore further: We have a Christmas comet: How to spot interplanetary comet 46P/Wirtanen
More information: The Comet Wirtanen Observing Campaign website is: wirtanen.astro.umd.edu
Amateur imagery is available on multiple websites, including: aop.astro.umd.edu/gallery/Wirtanen/46P_ccd.shtml , spaceweathergallery.com/comet_gallery.html , earthsky.org/space/46p-wirtane … ible-to-eye-dec-2018
A NASA ScienceCast on Comet Wirtanen is available at: science.nasa.gov/science-news/ … u-light-up-our-night
Provided by: NASA 
Sky & Telescope magazine
It’s *not* only visible on Sunday, but, at the very least, throughout the month. See the maps above.
Thanks ETL.
bump
Is that 8 O’ clock in the evening?
What day is that map depicting?
Do you have the link to the source?
I’m embarrassed to say it, but uranus is never a naked eye visible object.
I just put in the comet’s name into google image and the site popped up. I think it was space.com
LOL
This topic for some reason reminded me of my all time favor FReeper moonbat, Truth666 (banned over ten years ago). Here’s the sample topics, took way too much time to track this one down, Google was no help at all.
Huge asteroid to fly past Earth (Toutatis hoax - how and why)
space.com | 04/09/29
Posted on 09/29/2004 5:00:09 AM PDT by Truth666
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1230167/posts
[snip] Astronomers know nothing about the universe, except for a few large bodies with regular orbits. Any idiot should have understood that the latest by April 14, 2004, as comet Bradfield (diameter : 10,000 km) popped out of nowhere to become the largest body ever recorded in the inner solar system. [/snip]
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:truth666/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change
more incomprehensible Toutatis gobbledegook:
Precise Distance to Doomsday (today was the closest encounter from 1353 to 2562)
Astrobiology Magazine, based on European Southern Observatory (ESO) report ^ | 04/09/29
Posted on 09/29/2004 3:47:36 PM PDT by Truth666
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1230878/posts
Euro constitution signed, not sealed (666 one month trilogy; 2nd seal today)
The Australian | October 30, 2004 | Anthony Browne, Brussels
Posted on 10/29/2004 4:22:20 PM PDT by Truth666
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1262039/posts
Passing Comet.
Remember,
The Night of the Comet? (1984)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F13mpUTYS3E
Who could forget Catherine Mary Stewart!
98x25s.
I’m still waiting to see Kohoutek. All we got from it before was a Journey instrumental piece.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SRKZ_f67vTw
#9 Good thing too!
Finally a clear day here. If it stays this way, I hope to see it tonight!
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