Comet Neowise, the naked eye spectacle, as I like to call it, has put up quite a show to the astronomers and nature lovers out there. It has also made almost everyone in the Astro-world talk about it and hunt it, resulting in loss of hours of sleep.
It’s clearly visible to the people from the northern hemisphere, and tons of images of this striking object shot by astrophotographers in various parts of the world are floating on social media.
Discovered in the end of March, this comet is officially known as C/2020 F3 and derives its popular name from the NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) space telescope which was launched in December 2009 by NASA. WISE has also aided in discovering thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters till now.
Comets consist mostly of ice, gas, and dust particles with the ice consisting mostly of frozen water but other frozen substances like ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane, as well.
In some regions of its visibility, Neowise is now a naked eye object with a magnitude of 2, which means it’s as bright as the north star, Polaris. Astonishingly dramatic and unrealistic to see it in the sky, it is even easier to spot using binoculars.
Currently from Lahore, it is seen in the evening sky, about an hour after the sunset at the Northwest direction and sets around 10:30 pm. To visually observe the comet, use the stars in the ‘Ursa Major’ constellation to star hop and find the comet right below the big dipper asterism. Make sure there isn’t anything blocking your view like trees or buildings. It’s always an advantage to travel far out from the bright cities to escape the light pollution there. If you’re using a pair of binoculars, point it in that direction and just sweep across the area until you find the faint streak of light. Or if you have a good camera with you, place it on a tripod and start taking some long exposures. That would reveal the two-tailed comet, giving you an idea of where to look.
Comets can change quickly as they outgas as they move closer to the Sun hence it’s particularly hard to predict their orbit. This comet unbelievably has an orbit of 6.800 years and so if you miss this chance, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll observe it again!
It’s currently at a distance of approximately 111 million kilometers from Earth which is less than the distance from Earth to the Sun (150 million kilometers). This comet’s diameter is said to be 3 miles in diameter and its core is presently green in color. The green color is said to be due to the gases present in the nucleus, possibly Cyanogen or Carbide. When viewed visually, we usually only the dust tail but there’s another tail too called the Ion tail which can be seen in photographs. They are electrons ejected off from the particles in the core out by the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
Naked eye comets like this one are a rare phenomenon and occur only up to four times in one’s lifetime. So, when astronomers around the world say that it’s once in a lifetime opportunity, they mean it. A combination of factors is responsible for the apparent lengthening of the tail, including waning moonlight, the comet’s current visibility in a dark sky, and its increasing altitude and proximity to Earth. The closest approach occurs on July 23rd at a distance of 103 million kilometers. Southern Hemisphere stargazers, will get finally get their chance around July 28-30.
With the naked eye, it looks like a feather plume on a free fall and it’s stunning to see something like that in the sky. It’s an out of ordinary experience to try catching a glimpse at the naked eye spectacle. With so much chaos and confusion around, this is the best thing that has happened in 2020 till now and must not missed out.
Wishing you clear skies and happy comet hunting!
The writer can be reached on Instagram @infinity_seeker96.