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posted by takyon on Thursday July 09 2020, @10:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-comet dept.

Comet Neowise could be a 'great' one. Here's how to catch it throughout July:

Comet Neowise looks like it could be the real deal. After two other comets discovered in 2020 -- Swan and Atlas -- looked promising but then fizzled and faded away without ever putting on much of a show, Comet C/2020 F3 (aka Neowise) seems poised to deliver.

[...] According to NASA solar system ambassador Eddie Irizarry, it should remain visible just before and around the time of first light until July 11. The comet will then dip below the horizon as it transitions from being an early riser to a cocktail hour sensation, hopefully. It'll start to be visible again in the evening around July 15-16. It should be a little easier to see during the second half of July when it's a little higher in the sky. Until that point it'll be closer to the northeastern horizon.

[...] The comet's closest pass by Earth will be July 23, which might make for a particularly exciting viewing opportunity if the comet's brightness continues to hold where it is or even intensifies. It'll also rise a little higher in the sky on July 24 and 25 in case you miss the actual flyby date. Comets are notoriously fickle things that could always break up and burn out at any moment, so fingers crossed.

There's a possibility, for the most optimistic of us, that Neowise might brighten dramatically to become a so-called "great comet" that's easily visible and spectacular to see with the naked eye. While there's no strict definition of what a great comet is, it's generally agreed that we haven't seen one since Hale-Bopp in 1997.

See also: Anticipation Grows for Comets NEOWISE and Lemmon
Where is Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)?


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Jiro on Friday July 10 2020, @12:33AM (1 child)

    by Jiro (3176) on Friday July 10 2020, @12:33AM (#1018903)

    The closest it gets to Earth is 64 million miles. The Earth is 93 million miles from the sun. I hope you can figure out from this that getting closer to Earth isn't going to make it noticeably brighter.

    You can see a magnitude graph at this page [aerith.net]. The magnitiude is only going to be going down unless it has some kind of freak unpredictable outburst,

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  • (Score: 2) by aim on Friday July 10 2020, @08:46AM

    by aim (6322) on Friday July 10 2020, @08:46AM (#1018994)

    The comet, right now, looks quite spectacular, judging from the many pictures I've seen in specialist astro groups - yes, the ones on APOD are nice too (specifically today's, not everyone gets to take such a one...).

    I missed my chance a few days back when weather would have permitted a view, I'll seize the next opportunity (very early tomorrow morning, hopefully) to take my own pictures. With luck, there'll be some NLCs, one can hope for capturing the ion tail.

    You're right though, with time, the comet will get further away from the sun, thus lose its current brightness. That's no reason not to try to see it these next days or weeks.