Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), a recently-discovered visitor from distant parts of our Solar System, is putting on a spectacular nighttime display.
This image of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was captured on July 09, 2020 by Raman Madhira at Ray’s Astrophotography Observatory. Image credit: Raysastrophotograhy / CC BY-SA 4.0.
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is a retrograde comet discovered on March 27, 2020 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission.
“In its discovery images, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) appeared as a glowing, fuzzy dot moving across the sky even when it was still pretty far away,” said NEOWISE principal investigator Dr. Amy Mainzer, an astronomer at the University of Arizona.
“As soon as we saw how close it would come to the Sun, we had hopes that it would put on a good show.”
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) captured on July 6, 2020, above the northeast horizon just before sunrise in Tucson, Arizona. Image credit: Vishnu Reddy.
“From its infrared signature, we can tell that C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is about 5 km (3 miles) across, and by combining the infrared data with visible-light images, we can tell that the comet’s nucleus is covered with sooty, dark particles left over from its formation near the birth of our Solar System 4.6 billion years ago,” added NEOWISE deputy principal investigator Dr. Joseph Masiero, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) made its close approach to the Sun on July 3, 2020, and will cross outside Earth’s orbit on its way back to the outer parts of the Solar System by mid-August.
The comet will pass by Earth at a distance of 103 million km (64 million miles) while giving professional and amateur astronomers the opportunity to learn more about its composition and structure.
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) path across sky, stereographic projection. Image credit: Tom Ruen / CC BY-SA 4.0.
“People wishing to catch a glimpse of the glowing comet can spot it as it swings through the inner solar system, but its nearness to the Sun creates some observing challenges,” NASA astronomers said.
“For the next few days it will be visible about an hour before sunrise, close to the horizon in the northeastern sky in the United States.”
“Observers might be able to see the comet’s central core, or nucleus, with the naked eye in dark skies; using binoculars will give viewers a good look at the fuzzy comet and its long, streaky tail.”
“As it speeds away from the Sun, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) will begin to make its appearance in the evening sky shortly after sunset on July 11, 2020.”
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This article is based on a press-release provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
