How to see comet NEOWISE (earthsky.org)
Posted by Eddie Irizarry in Space | July 10, 2020
The time is growing short to see comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) in our morning skies. Later this month, it’ll return to the sky after sunset. This post has information and charts that will help you see the comet.
We still have to wait for another very bright comet, what astronomers call a great comet. There’s no strict definition for great comet, but most agree that Hale-Bopp – widely seen by people in 1997 – was one. Lesser comets are moderately frequent, though, and, right now, there’s a nice binocular comet in the dawn sky. Some skilled observers have reported that – once you spot it with binoculars – you can remove them and see the comet with the unaided eye. Using binoculars or other optical aid is a must, though, if you want to see this comet’s split tail. The comet is called C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). In this post, we provide charts (below) that can help you see this celestial visitor.
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was discovered on March 27, 2020, from some 326 miles (525 km) above Earth’s surface by NEOWISE, the Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a space telescope launched by NASA in 2009.
Comet NEOWISE was closest to the sun on July 3, 2020, passing at about 26.7 million miles (43 million km) from the sun, or a bit closer than the average distance from the sun to Mercury. Observers are still reporting seeing it, and so it appears to have survived the close encounter with our star.
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Location of comet NEOWISE on the night of closest approach to Earth (July 23, 2020), as seen from the central U.S., facing west-northwest just after sunset. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.
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Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and noctilucent clouds captured from the International Space Station. Image via Roscosmos.
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more: https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise
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