Although both indicate hope , CometsATLASandSWANfizzled out earlier this class to the dismay of the comet community . However , a raw rock on the block has possibly shift the luck of many a skywatcher .
With a order of magnitude much brighter than 2020 ’s early hopeful – 1.8 on July 6 – Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE , or just Comet NEOWISE , has become visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere . Having reached its closelipped point to the Sun ( perihelion ) on July 3 , 2020 , Comet NEOWISE is now on row to make itsnearest approach to Earthon July 23 , 2020 , at a distance of 103 million kilometer ( 64 million land mile ) .
When the comet was first unwrap by the NEOWISE space telescope back in March , it was fantastically faint , and percipient had broken expectations for its futurity . But having rapidly brighten during the spring , its voltage start to be close supervise , particularly when it made its close-fitting approach to the Sun last hebdomad . Whilst mostcomets’solid , icy lens nucleus succumb to the Sun ’s warmth , NEOWISE has emerged inviolate with a separate treble tail in tow .
As one of the most spectacular raw - oculus comet seen in a farseeing time , Comet NEOWISE has already been imaged across mid - northerly latitudes , and even from onboard the International Space Station .
So when and where do youneed to lookto beguile a glimpse of this spectacle ?
Right now , NEOWISE is in the constellation of Auriga run westwards and can be seen from more or less 80 minutes before cockcrow or 80 second after sunset atmid - northern parallel of latitude . The comet will not climb particularly high in the sky , so you will necessitate to find a daub free from Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and magniloquent buildings . Perhaps the good opinion of the tilt will come after in the calendar month , as it move into Lynx and finally passes beneath the whizz of the Big Dipper , but the comet ’s magnitude by that point may be too dim to see against the bright July sky .
If you could , it may bewiseto set up the alarms and get the stargazing apps out shortly to stress your paw at spotting this comet before it disappears out of pot , probably for the next6,800 years .
Clear skies !
