See a passing comet this Sunday

Phys.org ^ | Dec 14, 2018 | NASA

[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

[Conan the Librarian]

If you are talking about the planet, it certainly is occasionally naked eye.

It’s how Tycho first discovered it. He mapped it even, then it disappeared. There are several other historical astronomers that saw it too.

You DO have to be in a dark place and know where to look.

[Conan the Librarian]

You can also (from a darker sky site) catch Mira (Omicron Ceti) as it is now at peak brightness.

You can pick it up in the neck of Cetus.

[ETL]

Thanks. Now that you mentioned it I vaguely recall something about that.

Found this on Space.com

“We often speak of the five “naked-eye” planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), but in actuality, there is a sixth that can be glimpsed with the unaided eye if you know precisely where to look — and another that can be seen when you use a good pair of binoculars.

Uranus can also be seen by a sharp-eyed observer who knows where to look for it; Neptune is the only planet that requires optical aid in order to be seen.

Both planets were discovered after the invention of the telescope. Uranus was discovered more or less by accident in 1781. Uranus’ failure to follow its predicted orbit seemed to be due to the gravitational pull of a planet farther out in space. Two astronomers independently calculated the position of the undiscovered planet, and when telescopes were turned to this region in 1846, Neptune was found.”

https://www.space.com/38592-uranus-neptune-autumn-skywatching-2017.html

[ETL]

Very nice! Thank you.

[ETL]

Finally a clear day here. If it stays this way, I hope to see it tonight!

Good luck! And, remember, despite the dopey, misleading headline, it is not only going to be visible tonight (Sunday), but rather, at least, until to the end of the month.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks C.

[Yosemitest]

I saw it for a few seconds in the Florida Panhandle.
But due to a thin broken layer, occasional overcast layer, and a bright moon, that was all I got to view it with just my eyes.