Comet of the year is approaching!

Astronomers call the comet 46P/Virtanen "comet of the year". 16 Dec ice ball width of about a kilometer flies 11.5 million km from Earth, which makes this event one of the 10 closest approaches of comets from the beginning of the age of space exploration. The comet will probably be visible to the naked eye for several weeks during the holidays.

Yasushi Aoshima from Ishikawa (Japan) took this image using a 12-inch telescope. In the photo you can see the green atmosphere of the comet, which is very impressive, almost 2 times wider than Jupiter. The green color is the result of the content of diatomic carbon (C2).

It is a gaseous substance, usually contained in a shining green light atmospheres of comets.At the moment the comet's brightness is comparable with brightness of the stars of the 10th magnitude, which is characterized as dull. However, experts expect that by December it will be brighter by more than 200 times.

If current trends continue, 46P can eventually reach a value of +3, making it visible to the naked eye and an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes.The comet Virtanen passes through the inner Solar system every 5.4 years.

She is now near the orbit of Mars and is heading in our direction.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»