Outburst of Comet 46P/Wirtanen

This animation shows an explosive outburst of dust, ice and gases from comet 46P/Wirtanen that occurred on September 26, 2018 and dissipated over the next 20 days.

The images, from NASA’s TESS spacecraft, were taken every three hours during the first three days of the outburst.

Credits: Farnham et al / NASA.