Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Available Resources

• Position (see also Where is Comet 46P/Wirtanen?)
• Distance (see also How far is Comet 46P/Wirtanen from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 46P/Wirtanen rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 46P/Wirtanen?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 46P/Wirtanen orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 46P/Wirtanen with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 46P/Wirtanen for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 46P/Wirtanen in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A hight precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 46P/Wirtanen with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Closest approach of Comet 46P/Wirtanen to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 46P/Wirtanen to Earth happens on Mon Dec 17 2018 at a distance of 0.07750892 Astronomical Units, or 11,595,169 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 46P/Wirtanen is 24.22.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behvior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 46P/Wirtanen, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen rise and set times

Today's Comet 46P/Wirtanen rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 46P/Wirtanen touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 46P/Wirtanen Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 46P/Wirtanen with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Comet 46P/Wirtanen 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 46P/Wirtanen computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 46P/Wirtanen in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2019 Jul 17	12h 06m 11s	+09° 42’ 38”	23.99	Virgo
2019 Jul 18	12h 07m 28s	+09° 30’ 57”	24.02	Virgo
2019 Jul 19	12h 08m 45s	+09° 19’ 19”	24.05	Virgo
2019 Jul 20	12h 10m 03s	+09° 07’ 44”	24.09	Virgo
2019 Jul 21	12h 11m 20s	+08° 56’ 09”	24.12	Virgo
2019 Jul 22	12h 12m 37s	+08° 44’ 39”	24.15	Virgo
2019 Jul 23	12h 13m 54s	+08° 33’ 11”	24.18	Virgo
2019 Jul 24	12h 15m 11s	+08° 21’ 45”	24.21	Virgo
2019 Jul 25	12h 16m 27s	+08° 10’ 20”	24.25	Virgo
2019 Jul 26	12h 17m 44s	+07° 58’ 59”	24.28	Virgo
2019 Jul 27	12h 19m 00s	+07° 47’ 40”	24.31	Virgo
2019 Jul 28	12h 20m 17s	+07° 36’ 24”	24.34	Virgo
2019 Jul 29	12h 21m 34s	+07° 25’ 09”	24.37	Virgo
2019 Jul 30	12h 22m 51s	+07° 13’ 59”	24.40	Virgo