Astronomy: Comet NEOWISE

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Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2.0 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth.

Commentary

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit d iscovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2.0 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth. NEOWISE is known for being the brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997.

Commentary

Source: Internal

Why Comet NEOWISE matters: Understanding our cosmic neighbourhood helps us learn about planetary formation, the conditions for life, and ultimately our place in the universe. It was widely photographed by profession al and amateur observers and was even spotted by people living near city centers and areas with light pollution. While it was too close to the Sun to be observed at perihelion, it emerged from perihelion around magnitude 0.5 to 1, making it bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Under dark skies, it could be seen with the naked eye and remained visible to the naked eye throughout July 2020. By July 30, the comet was about magnitude 5, when binoculars were required near urban areas to locate the comet. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the comet could be seen on the northwestern horizon, below the Big Dipper. North of 45 degrees north, the comet was visible all night in mid-July 2020. On July 30, Comet NEOWISE entered the constellation of Coma Berenices, below the bright star Arcturus. NEOWISE was retroactively dubbed the Great Comet of 2020.

Commentary

Source: Internal

Deep dive: Comet NEOWISE While it was too close to the Sun to be observed at perihelion, it emerged from perihelion around magnitude 0.5 to 1, making it bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Under dark skies, it could be seen with the naked eye and remained visible to the naked eye throughout July 2020. By July 30, the comet was about magnitude 5, when binoculars were required near urban areas to locate the comet. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the comet could be seen on the northwestern horizon, below the Big Dipper. North of 45 degrees north, the comet was visible all night in mid-July 2020. On July 30, Comet NEOWISE entered the constellation of Coma Berenices, below the bright star Arcturus. NEOWISE was retroactively dubbed the Great Comet of 2020. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_NEOWISE (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)