Watch the Christmas comet light up the sky this weekend
Santa Claus is not the only one coming to town this season.
It's also time for the return of a comet we only see once every five years — 46P/Wirtanen, or as it's more commonly known, the Christmas comet. This glowing green speck has been growing brighter in the sky since November, but on Sunday it will reach its peak, becoming visible even to the naked eye.
At its closest, comet 46P will be less than 7 million miles from the Earth, the tenth-closest comet we've seen since 1950, CNN reported. It won't get this close again for another 20 years, so grab your binoculars or telescope, find a patch of clear sky, and start looking.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
CNN noted that the comet, while visible, usually appears with a fuzzy halo. Because comets are made of ice, as 46P passes the sun, parts of it melt and are absorbed into the expansive atmosphere that travels with it, creating the glowing green cloud that we'll be able to see this weekend.
You can check Time and Date to figure out when is best to try to see the Christmas comet for your location. But if you're worried that light pollution will hurt your chances, the Virtual Telescope Project will also be livestreaming the comet's trajectory on Sunday starting at 5 p.m. ET. Read more about the Christmas comet at CNN.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
The art world and motherhood: the end of a final taboo?
Talking Point Hettie Judah's new touring exhibition offers a 'riveting riposte' to old cliches
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Asteroid mining: the money to be made in space
The Explainer Some asteroids are valued at £100trn-plus but mining them is easier said than done
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Lift-off in Shetland Islands for UK's first vertical spaceport
Speed reads SaxaVord Spaceport aims to begin rocket launches next summer
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published