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Name / Constellation

Comet Wirtanen

 Other: 46/P

 
Coordinates  
Optics Takahashi FSQ 106N APO Fluorite F5 - 60/220 guiding refractor
Camera-Mount SBIG STF8300M - Orion StarShot Guider - 10Micron GM2000 QCI Mount
Filters Baader RGB
Exposure
  • Lum
  • Red
  • Green
  • Blue
  • 15 x 30 sec - 7.5 min
  • 15 x 30 sec - 7.5 min
  • 15 x 30 sec - 7.5 min
  • 15 x 30 sec - 7.5 min
  • UNBINNED
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
Location / Date Promiod (Valle D'Aosta-Italy) "TLP" Remote Observatory - 06 dec 2018
Seeing  
Note  
Acquisition MaxIm DL
Processing Adobe Photoshop CS6 -
Comment

46P/Wirtanen is a small short-period comet with a current orbital period of 5.4 years. It was the original target for close investigation by the Rosetta spacecraft, planned by the European Space Agency, but an inability to meet the launch window caused Rosetta to be sent to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko instead. It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets, all of which have aphelia between 5 and 6 AU. Its diameter is estimated at 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi).

46P/Wirtanen was discovered photographically on January 17, 1948, by the American astronomer Carl A. Wirtanen. The plate was exposed on January 15 during a stellar proper motion survey for the Lick Observatory. Due to a limited number of initial observations, it took more than a year to recognize this object as a short-period comet.