I’ve been neglecting this site, I know But here’s something worth coming back for: Comet NEOWISE, which is lighting up skies all over the world. It’s visible right now to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s a recent photo from Slovakia:
Stunning, right? NEOWISE (named after the space observation satellite that first spotted it) has a 6,800-year orbit, which means it won’t pass this way again until the year 8820, when the Earth will be nothing but a black cinder ruled over by evil robots.
Space.com has useful information on how to view the comet, pasted here:
Don’t miss Comet NEOWISE in the evening sky now. It won’t be back for 6,800 years.
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“If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, you can see it,” said Joe Masiero, deputy principal investigator of NEOWISE, the NASA space telescope that discovered the comet, in a NASA Science Live webcast Wednesday (July 15). “As the next couple of days progress, it will get higher in the evening sky, so you’re going to want to look northwest right under the Big Dipper.”
There are a few more comet-observing tips to keep in mind, according to Masiero.
First, you’re going to want to try and get away from city lights and set up in a location with a clear, unobstructed view of the northwest horizon.
Then, find out what time your local sunset is. You’ll want to wait until 45 minutes after sunset before hunting the comet.
“What you want to do is go out right around the time that the first stars start to show up. You’re not going to be able to see it before that,” Masiero said. “It’s probably about as bright as some of the stars in the Big Dipper.”
To the unaided eye, Comet NEOWISE will look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail, according to a NASA guide. But binoculars or a small telescope offer a much better view.
And finally, NASA’s “Astronomy Picture of the Day” is posting some remarkable photos of Comet NEOWISE from around the world right now on their Facebook site, “Sky.” Check it out. Below are just a few.
Get out there and look for it tonight. Happy viewing.
