On Sunday, Dec. 16, the comet named 46P/Wirtanen will make its 10 closest comet flybys of Earth in 70 years. And as scientists reported, you will able to see the comet without a telescope.
46P/Wirtanen is a small short-period comet with a current orbital period of 5.4 years. It was discovered photographically on January 17, 1948, by the American astronomer Carl A. Wirtanen.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory then explained on Twitter that Comet 46P/Wirtanen “will be only 7.2 million miles or 11.7 million kilometers from Earth and will reach an estimated naked-eye magnitude of 3 to 7.5” as it passes on 16th December.
Astronomers say the comet is a regular visitor to our Solar System, and was previously “the favoured rendezvous target” for the Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission.
If you can’t see Comet 46P/Wirtanen from space on 16th, track its progress online via the Virtual Telescope Project.
Comet rise and set time and visibility in your city
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