Brightest comet of 2018 to pass the closest to Earth in Decembe

nbc ^ | Dec. 9, 2018 / 12:07 PM ‎PST | Angel Torres

[BenLurkin]

The comet 46P/Wirtanen, which passes Earth every 5.4 years, was one of three comets discovered by Carl Wirtanen in 1948 at the Lick Observatory in California. This orbit will be one of the closest comet orbits to Earth since the 1950s, according to Space.com.

The comet 46P will likely not have a large observable tail because of its relatively small size, according to Space.com. It measures 0.68 miles in diameter, one-tenth the size of the popular Halley's Comet. Currently, 46P is a small blueish object in the night sky.

The comet will be passing in the Southern sky, near the constellation Orion, according to CBC....the best ways to get a glimpse of this comet will be with binoculars or a telescope.... and it will be at its closest to Earth at 8:06 a.m. ET on Dec. 16

[yarddog]

I remember Haley’s comet in the 1980s. It was a disappointment. I never saw it.

The one which inspired the suicide cult was better but still nothing extra. At least I could see it.

[Big Red Badger]

Hale Bopp er something,
San Diego makes the
Freak Show Headlines Again!

[yesthatjallen]

I don't even remember seeing Haleys' comet. I was living in NYC at the time.

I do remember clearly seeing Hale-Bopp.

I had made a mental note to search for it but I didn't have to.

One night I was walking home and I looked up and it was clearly visible in a very brightly lit area.

No special arrangements needed.

[yarddog]

Hale-Bopp was visible but even viewed through a high end (ED Glass) 22 power spotting scope it was not large. I mounted it on a tripod and asked my 80 something parents if they wanted to see it.

I was a bit surprised that they did. They had never seen a comet before. This was late afternoon in the Western sky.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Halley’s orbit provided its worst view in 5k years IIRC the last time whereas prior visit was glorious. I did see it, but it took a friend to show it with a 16” telescope.

[bgill]

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[hanamizu]

I remember Haley’s comet in the 1980s. It was a disappointment.

---

I remember looking at kid’s astronomy books in the 50s showing people looking up at Haley’s comment in 1910—it looked to stretch across a 1/3 of the sky. My older relatives told me of it as well. It was spectacular.

The apparition of my lifetime, not so much. I looked at it through a telescope, a bit of a smudge, and that was it.

Youngsters alive today may get a better view in 2061. Hope it is.

[concentric circles]

The night of December 15, 2018, may provide your best views of comet 46P/Wirtanen. First, look at the familiar stars of Orion, then look up to the stars that compose the Pleiades cluster in Taurus. By mid-December, the comet is located very close to this easy-to-find group of stars. Facing east, shortly after nightfall.

EarthSky.org

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***I remember Haley’s comet in the 1980s. ***

But Haley’s Comet of 1910 was supposed to choke the people of Earth with it’s poisonous tail!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Photos taken by an amateur in Newton, MA using a 6" telescope on December 4th and December 8th, showing increase in brightness and size. It is visible at about 10 PM Local time due south at an elevation of 47 degrees from latitude 42 N. Add one degree of elevation for each degree south of 42 N, subtract one for each degree N. Visible in moderately light polluted skies through 7 x 50 binoculars, or equivalent. Total brightness is about the same as Mars, but more diffuse.

[SamAdams76]

I remember Haley’s comet in the 1980s. It was a disappointment. I never saw it.

Same here. I went to school during the 1970s and even back then, the 1986 return of Haley's comet was much hyped. Teachers told us how spectacular it would be, that we would be able to see it even in daylight with the naked eye, and how fortunate we would be to see it when we grew up.

During December of 1973, when I was in fifth grade, we had the much hyped coming of Comet Kahoutek and how it might portend the end of the world - or the second coming of Jesus Christ, depending on who you were listening to.

Like the metric system, it was yet another schoolhouse scare that never panned out.

I put comets in the same category of tsunamis. Always hyped but rarely experienced.

[21twelve]

“During December of 1973, when I was in fifth grade, we had the much hyped coming of Comet Kahoutek...”

Wow - that was the only one I remembered the name of, and yeah - I don’t think I saw it in spite of looking. But that name stuck - ‘cuz I was going to say that was the one I saw 15(?) years ago - but that must have been Hale-Bopp that I saw.

[SamAdams76]

Now Hale-Bopp, that's a comet that actually lived up to hype. In fact, that remains the only comet I ever saw with the naked eye and I'm in my mid-50s so I've been around a while.

That was back in 1995 and the whole Hale-Bopp experience was overshadowed by that silly cult that committed mass suicide. Which is a shame because overall, that Comet Hale-Bopp was a pretty cool event. I remember walking my young children through our neighborhood so that they could get a peek at it. All in all, it was a spectacular event.

[GingisK]

Then there was Comet Kohoutek.

[ealgeone]

IIRC you could see it during the day.

It was a bit eerie seeing it seemingly hang up there in the sky.

[Monterrosa-24]

I was able to see Hale-Bopp low in the sky as I was driving between Auburn and Camp Hill in Alabama. It was that easy to see. The tail was long enough so that a humble telescope or even binoculars would not capture the whole image.

[o-n-money]

With no friction in space, what creates the tail?

[politicianslie]

With no friction in space, what creates the tail?

The sun emits what is typically called the solar wind. Particles sweep the comet's tail away from the sun giving it an appearance like a smoking ball.