Hyperactive Comet Wirtanen to Show off During Historically Close Flyby:
The comet 46P/Wirtanen was discovered in 1948, but this could be the best year to get a good look at the small, hyperactive space ball of rock, ice and debris.
That's because when the comet passes nearest to Earth on Dec. 16 at a distance of 7.1 million miles (11.5 million kilometers), it'll be the 10th closest encounter with our planet since 1950. And it could be the brightest of the entire top 10.
It should become visible with the naked eye in the night sky as it approaches and could remain that way for weeks, according to the University of Maryland's astronomy department, which is leading an observation campaign of the comet.
[...] Astronomers are already busy tracking and observing Wirtanen, but expect it to become the subject of some excitement and numerous star parties as it becomes visible to the rest of us in December.
At closest approach, it would still be at 30 times the Earth-Moon distance; no risk of impact with the Earth. This time around, at least.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday October 16 2018, @05:46PM (1 child)
At about 1.2km diameter, it could help finish the job started by the two hurricanes.
Then again, risking impact would make the absurd "space force" an actual election topic.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @06:02PM
Hmm... 1.2km diameter...
Chicxulub crater [wikipedia.org]:
Looks to me like 46P/Wirtanen's about an order of magnitude too small. :-(
Though probably the super unfortunate thing is that humans would figure out how to survive an impact from a 10-15km body. :-(