Comet 46P/ Wirtanen

During the 2002 return, Comet 46P/ Wirtanen peaked at about magnitude 8.5 and some observations indicated a surge in brightness of about 2 magnitudes. There was no evidence of any brightness surge during the 1997 return, nor during the 2008 return.


Comet 46P/ Wirtanen. September 3, 2002
Combination of 5, 1 minute images, SBIG ST-7E CCD.
8" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.