Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Comet 46P/Wirtanen is currently in the constellation of Capricornus.

The current Right Ascension of Comet 46P/Wirtanen is 21h 17m 18s and the Declination is -24° 41’ 28” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 46P/Wirtanen is 21.25 (JPL).

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

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

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 46P/Wirtanen?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 46P/Wirtanen from Earth?)
• 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 high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 46P/Wirtanen with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 46P/Wirtanen is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 46P/Wirtanen?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 46P/Wirtanen in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 46P/Wirtanen from Earth is currently 435,246,215 kilometers, equivalent to 2.909441 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 11.8251 seconds to travel from Comet 46P/Wirtanen and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 46P/Wirtanen from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 46P/Wirtanen from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 46P/Wirtanen to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 46P/Wirtanen to Earth happens on Mon Dec 17 2018 at a distance of 0.077509 Astronomical Units, or 11,595,162 kilometers:

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

Comet 46P/Wirtanen Brightness and Light Curve

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.

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
2023 May 25	21h 15m 54s	-24° 17’ 52”	21.39	Capricornus
2023 May 26	21h 16m 09s	-24° 20’ 31”	21.37	Capricornus
2023 May 27	21h 16m 22s	-24° 23’ 17”	21.35	Capricornus
2023 May 28	21h 16m 35s	-24° 26’ 11”	21.34	Capricornus
2023 May 29	21h 16m 45s	-24° 29’ 09”	21.32	Capricornus
2023 May 30	21h 16m 56s	-24° 32’ 16”	21.30	Capricornus
2023 May 31	21h 17m 06s	-24° 35’ 29”	21.29	Capricornus
2023 Jun 01	21h 17m 13s	-24° 38’ 48”	21.27	Capricornus
2023 Jun 02	21h 17m 20s	-24° 42’ 15”	21.25	Capricornus
2023 Jun 03	21h 17m 26s	-24° 45’ 47”	21.23	Capricornus
2023 Jun 04	21h 17m 30s	-24° 49’ 27”	21.22	Capricornus
2023 Jun 05	21h 17m 34s	-24° 53’ 13”	21.20	Capricornus
2023 Jun 06	21h 17m 35s	-24° 57’ 07”	21.18	Capricornus
2023 Jun 07	21h 17m 35s	-25° 01’ 09”	21.17	Capricornus