The comet will start fading away when it starts entering the outer parts of the solar system in August. (Image: Roscosmos)
A new comet called Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was discovered by NASA’s Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope. It can be seen by skywatchers at predawn.
According to EarthSky.org, the comet was closest to the Sun on July 3 at 43 million km, which is closer than the average distance between the Sun and Mercury.I t will be at its highest in the dawn sky around July 11, after which it will gradually approach the horizon each day. By mid-July, the comet will be visible at dusk in the northwest horizon.
It is said that if the comet manages to stay brighter, it will also be visible in the second half of July during evening dusk.
The comet will come the closest to Earth on July 22-23, which is when skywatchers across Northern hemisphere including in India will be able to see it with naked eyes or using binoculars after sunset.
The comet will start fading away when it starts entering the outer parts of the solar system in August. Comet NEOWISE is a binocular object. Some skywatchers are claiming to have seen it with bare eyes. However, that will not be possible for everyone. So if you want to check out this comet, we recommend that you get a good pair of binoculars.
Comet NEOWISE from ISS, July 5th pic.twitter.com/pAbGdtchAc
— Seán Doran (@_TheSeaning) July 7, 2020
Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise image taken with 300mm lens, f/5.6, Nikon Z6, 0,4s, ISO 1600 from Wolfurt / Austria. The comet was clearly visible with the unaided eye, it was beautiful in the 10×50 binoculars. #comet #neowise pic.twitter.com/hBGeJZKtie
— Philipp Salzgeber (@astro_graph) July 5, 2020
Comet NEOWISE and the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🍁! I was up really early for this shot. It’s not often that we get the opportunity to see or photograph a comet of this brightness and with a tail. I hope you like it!🤩 https://t.co/BFyxFFw2DE pic.twitter.com/sGZBiEVryM
— Kerry LH💫 (@weatherandsky) July 5, 2020
I have a strong dislike of early mornings—but so worth it today because wow is that comet beautiful! C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) I was at Sunset Crater by 4AM. It was an easy naked-eye object, but really rewarding through binoculars. Last pic is closest to naked eye scale.#neowise pic.twitter.com/1I0Cx2fZQJ
— Jeremy Perez (@jperez1690) July 5, 2020
According to NASA, Comet NEOWISE’s nucleus is about 5 km and it is covered with sooty particles leftover from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. The next time this comet will be visible from Earth will be the year 8,786 — which is almost over 6,000 years later.