Astroblog: My First View of Comet 46P Wirtanen (6 December 2018)

Thursday, December 06, 2018

My First View of Comet 46P Wirtanen (6 December 2018)


My sketch of 46P tonight at 10:57 pm ACDST from suburban Adelaide. Made with 10x50 binoculars	Simulation of 10x50 binoculars view of the smae field at the same time in Stellarium.

I finally got to see 46P tonight (after cloud, rain and a range of other issues). Took a while to sort out the star hopping to Azha (eta (η) Eridani, but once that was done comet 46P was readily see as a large fuzzy patch. The sketch is a bit wobbly from trying to juggle sketch pad, binoculars and red light torch, but not too bad after a long break fro sketching.

Hopefully the weather will stay clear and I can get some camera images as well.

Labels: 46P, comet

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:27 pm

Comments:

I saw it before moments but I can't identify it because its dim light

# posted by

Shabwah : 5:43 am

I saw it before moments but I can't identify it because its dim light

# posted by

Shabwah : 5:44 am

I managed to see it last night in Geraldton too, but only as the same fuzzy blob like a weak Magellanic cloud, and not even green yet. I'll be keeping my eyes it from Carnarvon all this week. Dark skies everyone!

# posted by

Unknown : 9:40 am

At the moment it is so diffuse that the unaided eye can't see the colour (you need a good astronomical camera). Hope your observations go well.

# posted by

Ian Musgrave : 5:26 pm