The comet Neowise or C/2020 F3 is seen before sunrise over the Allg’u landscape, in Bad W’rishofen, Bavaria, Sunday, July 12, 2020. (AP/PTI Photo)
NEOWISE Comet Live Updates: The C/2020 F3 comet aka NEOWISE has caught the attention of the stargazers in India as they will be able to get a glimpse of the celestial event from July 14 onwards. The comet will be visible to the naked eye for 20 minutes every day for 20 days.
On July 14, the comet was visible an hour before the dawn sky. This will continue in mid-July. However, the comet will be visible in the evening later this month before it starts to fade away in August. It will be visible only through binoculars and telescopes before disappearing next month as it enters the outer orbit of our solar system. It will be closest to earth on July 22 as the distance from Earth will be 64 million miles or 103 million kilometres as it crosses the planet’s orbit.
“From July 14, C/2020 F3, a comet discovered on March 27, will be clearly visible in the north-western sky. It will be visible after sunset for around 20 minutes for the next 20 days. People can observe it from naked eyes,” Odisha planetarium’s Deputy Director, Dr. Subhendu Pattnaik told ANI. “In the evenings to follow, the comet will rapidly climb higher in the sky and will be visible for a longer period,” he added. The NEOWISE will be visible in the northwest sky which is 20 degrees from the horizon.
According to NASA, the comet is about 5 km wide and its nucleus is covered with sooty dark particles left over 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.
NEOWISE was visible in India today for 20 minutes before the dawn sky. The comet was visible to the naked eye.