Comet 46P Wirtanen

Comet 46P Wirtanen at perehelion on the 16th December 2018 and 7,220,000 miles from Earth

"Weather has been very poor here on the coast and consequently there has been little astronomical action at the Observatory. Thankfully Mrs Thrust, being both hawk-eyed and ever vigilant, noticed a 'window' of clear sky through the observatory kitchen door at 2:00 UT on the morning of the 16th of December. Dragging on my dressing-gown I raced to assemble a 'Heath Robinson' collection of kit to obtain a photograph however poor. The above two images are the best accomplished on a night of high drama, before the clouds once again dominated the sky." Kurt Thrust - acting CEO and current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

" 46P Wirtanen is a short period comet that returns to our skies every 5.4 years. The comet is thought to have a nucleus of only 1.2 Kilometers in diameter and therefore it is quite surprising that 46P displays such high activity. The comet was first discovered in 1948 by Carl A Wirtanen.  46P was the original target for ESA's Rossetta Mission but because of launch delays, it was redirected to the comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko . During December, 46P might grow in apparent brightness as it travels into the constellation Auriga. On Christmas Eve the comet should be close to the bright star Capella and may be visible to the naked eye". Archie Mendes - theoretical astrophysicist and mathematician.

" I do hope I didn't wake our neighbour, Mr Shrodinger, when I inadvertently tripped over his cat in the dark" sincere apologies Kurt Thrust