When will it be possible to see the "Christmas comet", which will make its appearance closer to Earth | Science and health

The 46P completes its orbit every 5 years and most of the time, it pbades very far from the Earth to be visible to us. Astronomers believe that this pbadage will be closer to Earth in 70 years.

On December 16, however, the comet could be seen here, according to the US Space Agency (NASA). For astronomy enthusiasts, a novelty will come: it will be the brightest comet to pbad near the planet in the last 20 years.

Even visible, the comet will be about 11.6 million kilometers from the Earth (about 30 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon).

While this may seem like a lot, experts think that it can be seen with the naked eye.

Excellent conditions of observation

According to observers from the Wirtanen Comet of the University of Maryland, at least in the United States, the observation conditions will be excellent.

The university, which has an internet page dedicated to tracking 46P, says the comet should be visible "almost all night" in the northern and southern hemispheres as it is getting closer to the Earth.

According to academics, the appearance of 2018 will be historic for a reason: it will be the tenth comet to get closer to the Earth in the modern era.

"The Christmas comet" is green. Color is recurrent in comets, such as Lovejoy and Machhol, and is due to its coma – the glowing cloud of gas and dust that surrounds it. It contains cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which glow green when they are ionized by sunlight.

The "Christmas comet" is also "hyperactive". Experts say that they seem to "emit more water than they should because of the size of their heart," says the University of Maryland.

The effect is due to the fact that the 46P core contains a large amount of volatile ice, which heats and feeds coma, while the comet moves at a speed of 34,200 kilometers at the hour .