Comet 46P/Wirtanen also known as the Christmas comet begins making its appearance today. Wirtanen is about 3/4 of a mile in circumference and belongs to the Jupiter family of comets. The comet will pass 7,190,000 miles from Earth, reaching an estimated magnitude of 4.2 making this pass the brightest one predicted, and the brightest close approach for the next 20 years. Its magnitude could peak as bright as magnitude 3 near its December 16, 2018 closest approach.
It can be seen looking toward the Taurus Constellation between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters – for best viewing you should be away from city lights in the darkness. Due to the clouds we may have around the next few nights we may be hard pressed to see it however it will be around the next couple weeks so look for a fuzzy green spot in the sky… Tuesday night may be the best opportunity.
Our tranquil weather pattern continues for another three days with temps slightly above normal – the next system will bring mainly rain with some snow mixed in… once again, end of story (for now)….
I dont expect to many to read this at this time of day so will try to post tomorrow or later
We are on our way home from our latest cruise. We had a very good time had a lot of food to eat and seen some very good comedy shows. The weather was just great very warm no rain and the seas were very calm. The temperatures were in the mid 80’s every day. We are now in Charleston WV we left Fort Lauderdale yesterday with sunny skies and a temperature of 77° it stayed in the 70’s to the Cape Canaveral area where it dropped into the upper 60’s with partly cloudy skies that looked and felted like the UP in the summer time. On today trip it was sunny and warm but there were parking lot snow piles in North Carolina. The person in Arbys we stopped at said they had 11” of snow. Here is Charleston it is 43 with what feels like a cold wind.
We will be home tomorrow and it will be odd to come into Michigan was no snow on the ground in mid-December.
Slim
Welcome back Slim!
Another gorgeous El Nino December day! What a incredible stretch we are in. Mild, dry, and tons of sunlight! Who would pick the garbage of blah dark days we had in November over this??
Yes, how true.
The sky looks clear maybe I will see the comet tonight.
Its really tough to see unless you use binoculars. It’s just a small fuzzy blotch, and now with the increasing moon light and all the urban lighting, it is almost impossible to see with the eye around here. I was hoping it would brighten this week, but it hasn’t done much. Good luck!
Cannot come up with it. Where are you seeing it relative to Orion’s Belt?
Good info and maps here:
http://spaceweather.com/
Thanks…can’t see it from Ada…was also told Amway’s “lighting” obliterates all but the brightest objects 😉
I see that two certain people have been mia here on the blog the last couple days. Must be the snow drought. Lol !! Looks like more 40s this week,
I hope to see the green comet. That’s not an everyday occurrence.
If this model holds, we could be looking at one of the most GREEN Christmas’s ever for the lower 48. Check out this national map for predicted snow cover Christmas day.
https://i.mlive.com/resizer/U_X78GS_USIVbi-VWm7x2Wlf72w=/600×0/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-advancelocal/public/55J5A2D3CVC3LOWPSHGFKD2V5Y.png
The snow drought continues. I saw golfers yesterday and stand up paddle boarders on the river!
Mild night again last night, never even fell below freezing. Quite surprising since we had clear skies. Usually the temp would bottom out on a night like that. Just another above average day on tap!
Last night was perfect for viewing the comet with the totally clear skies. It is hard to see unless you use binoculars, even then it is pretty non-remarkable. Been a long time since we’ve had a good bright one.