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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)?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by aristarchus on Friday July 10 2020, @05:35AM (7 children)
Every once in a while I attempt to educate Soylentils. For the most part, it is a thankless task. But here we do have a teachable moment. Why are Comets such bad news? Portents of Doom? Distablizers of the Established Order? Sign of the ascendency of William the Conquer, and equally the descendency of the Donald? There is a reason.
The Reason is Aristotle, and the Church. Supposedly, the "celestial" realms are closer to god. OK, actually this is Gnosticism. But it depends on a common conception of the status of reality. Material existence is the lowest form. Matter just is, and it is "stupid". Comes back into vogue in Existentialism! But the point being that the ethereal plane, the intellectual realm, the arena of Platonic Ideas, well there they obey the laws of thermodynamics, and logic. So if some unexpected heavenly body, especially one with a tail, were to appear in the night sky, it would totally upset the idea that the heavens are more rational that the cthlonic realms were Lady Fortuna holds sway. But, on the other hand, since the heavens are completely rational, for an irrational object like a comet to appear, must mean, something? I predict that Trump's tax returns will be released, and we will all laugh.
But, you see the point? Comets mean that we are part of a not-quite finished planetary system, around old dear Sol, and the future is not determined, as exemplified by Swan and Atlas. With comets, one never knows what will happen. But with sufficent information, we would, and then they would not be so scarey. Unless they are headed straight at the Anus of Runaway1956!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2020, @11:14AM
You could switch some of the key words and have modern history...
Covid means that we are part of a not-quite finished biological system, and the future is not determined.
Trump means that we are part of a not-quite finished political system, and the future is not determined.
Pelosi means that we are part of a not-quite finished evolutionary system, and the future is determined.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday July 10 2020, @02:44PM (5 children)
> the arena of Platonic Ideas
I believe you are getting things confused with a cave.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday July 10 2020, @11:31PM (4 children)
The point of Plato's cave is the crawling out of it, into the true light of celestial bodies? Like this. [duckduckgo.com] But also this attitude is found in Boethius' De philosophiae consolatione, [wikisource.org]
[Liber Primus, X]
(Score: 3, Funny) by PiMuNu on Saturday July 11 2020, @05:53AM
Oh heady days of my youth! Ubi est Quintus? I hear you cry. Quintus est in cubiculum I retort! Ubi est filia. Filia est in culinam! Sadly so very sexist.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by turgid on Saturday July 11 2020, @11:00AM (2 children)
It's at times like this I wish I had an education.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 11 2020, @02:09PM (1 child)
If by "had an education" you mean "can read a dead language which hasn't been particularly relevant to modern academia for centuries", try Lingua Latina: https://www.hackettpublishing.com/lingua-latina-per-se-illustrata-series [hackettpublishing.com]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday July 11 2020, @02:20PM
Thanks.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].