No Tail

Comet 46P/Wirtanen

 

46P/Wirtanen is a 1.2 km Jupiter family comet with a 5.4 year period. It was discovered by Carl A. Wirtanen on January 17, 1948. Closest approach will occur on December, 16

 

Although a vivid tail is not visible, the comets coma is very large. Based on the above frame dimensions, the coma is larger than the full moon - approx. 0.6 degrees.

 

Comet 46P/Wirtanen - Current Status

 

20181207, Newtown, PA

 

D5500

WO-61 w/flat-61

iOptron SkyGuider Pro

88 x 30sec, 1600iso

Regim sig1.6 - align on stars and on comet

Affinity photo - color preserve stretch

 

Overlay of Star align and comet align images

full frame - 33% resolution

 

Plate solved - single image

Frame Size: 3.65 x 2.44 deg -> approx. 0.8d comet coma

Center (RA, Dec):(45.834, -5.649)

 

Stacked Plate Solve

 

46p_starAlignCoverlay3_sig16f_33r90q.jpg

RG_46p_c-and-sAlign_sig16f_rncl_cpsMax2_33r90qn.jpg

Done