46P/Wirtanen is a small short-periodic comet with a current orbital period of 5.4 years. It was the original target for close investigation by the Rosetta spacecraft, planned by the European Space Agency. It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets, all of which have aphelia between 5 and 6 AU. Its diameter is estimated at 1.2 km.

Discovery

46P/Wirtanen was discovered photographically on January 17, 1948 by the American astronomer Carl A. Wirtanen. The plate was exposed on January 15 during a stellar proper motion survey for the Lick Observatory. Due to a limit number of initial observations, it took more than a year to recognize this object as a short-periodic comet.

External links

• IAU Ephemerides page for 46P
• 46P on JPL Small-Body Database Browser