Christmas Comet: The Year’s Brightest Comet Will Be Visible To The Naked Eye
This month has been a really great one for whoever wanted to see something beyond spectacular in the night sky.
The Geminid meteor shower has been putting on quite a gorgeous show, and this weekend some of you will be able to see the brightest comet of the year.
This is called Comet 46P/Wirtanen began to get brighter back in November and this Sunday it will be visible with the naked eye.
The brightest point for the comet is December 16
The comet will be making its closest approach to our planet during the next two decades by coming within seven million miles of the Earth. The brightest point for the comet will be December 16, and it will be so bright just like a star in the constellation of the Little Dipper’s handle, according to the latest information coming from NASA.
Astronomers said that the comet 46P is the tenth closest comet that will be coming near our planet since back in 1950.
Most of the comets that usually pass by our Earth are never birth enough to be seen with just the naked eye. This comet is also known as the Christmas Comet, and it graces the skies once every five years as it orbits our sun.
“The closest that the comet comes to the sun happened on December 12. The Wirtanen name in the official designation of the comet comes from the man who first observed it in 1948, Carl Wirtanen. He was at the time a senior observing assistant at the Lick Observatory in California,” SlashGear notes.
Go to an area with minimal light pollution
In order to be able to see the comet, you will have to be in the area with minimal light pollution and you should be looking up to the sky between twilight and sunrise towards the East.
Anyway, don’t worry if you’re living in an area with too much light because the Virtual Telescope Project will stream the observations live.
I have been blogging and posting articles for over eight years, but my passion for writing dates back in 2000. I am especially enthusiastic about technology, science, and health-related issues. When I’m not researching and writing the latest news, I’m either watching sci-fi and horror movies or checking out places worth visiting and building deep memories for later in life. I believe in empathy and continually improving myself.
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