46P/Wirtanen

Went looking for it last night - just a fuzz ball visible in binoculars....but visible all the same.

Observers are placing the comet at mag +5, but with a coma of up to 2 degrees, it is highly diffuse. It is passing by the following below objects:

6th pm Azha (Eta (η) Eridani, mag +3.9).
10th pm Menkar (Alpha (α) Ceti, mag +2.5).
12th pm Omicron (ο) and Xi (ξ) Tauri, mag +3.6 and +3.7 respectively.
16th pm M45 – The Pleiades.
17th pm Psi (ψ) Tauri, mag +5.2.
22nd pm Almaaz (Epsilon (ε) Aurigae, mag +3.0).
23rd pm Capella (Alpha (α) Aurigae, mag +0.1).

I observed it using a 120mm refractor on Mon night and it was very disappointing. Admittedly it was from a suburban location with lots of light pollution, but the comet was just a faint smudge. Here's hoping it will improve as it climbs higher in the sky and brightens further.

Mike

It is naked eye now, a least from my rural site. Magnitude estimate is difficult because of the large coma, but by comparison with nearby 94 Cet and 10 Tau I would settle for +4.6. First naked eye comet I've seen since Lovejoy in February 2015.

Finbarr.

Not Comet 46P stuff, but a new comet found which will be visible in February at around mag +6/7. Chart below, @vivstoitsis on twitter worth a follow: