The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on Thursday before it fades into black. Comet NEOWISE captured on July 20, 2020, at JPL trail head parking lot (Photo – Gareth Peries)
A comet visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system is putting on a spectacular display.
By Mikayla Mace
Named Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, the comet made its once-in-our-lifetimes close approach to the Sun on July 3, 2020, and will cross outside Earth’s orbit on its way back to the outer parts of the solar system by mid-August.
The comet cruised just inside Mercury’s orbit on July 3. This very close passage by the Sun is cooking the comet’s outermost layers, causing gas and dust to erupt off the icy surface and creating a large tail of debris. And yet the comet has managed to survive this intense roasting.
Observers all over the world are racing to see the natural fireworks display before the comet speeds away into the depths of space. Even the astronauts aboard the International Space Station spotted it from their vantage point high above Earth’s atmosphere.
Observers might be able to see the comet’s central core, or nucleus, with the naked eye in dark skies; using binoculars will give viewers a good look at the fuzzy comet and its long, streaky tail. As it speeds away from the Sun, Comet NEOWISE started making its appearance in the evening sky shortly after sunset early in July.
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission discovered the icy visitor on March 27, 2020, using its two infrared channels, which are sensitive to the heat signatures given off by the object as the Sun started to turn up the heat.
NEOWISE captured on July 16, 2020, at Mono Lake, CA (Photo – Gareth Peries)
Joseph Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said:
From its infrared signature, we can tell that it is about 5 kilometers [3 miles] across, and by combining the infrared data with visible-light images, we can tell that the comet’s nucleus is covered with sooty, dark particles left over from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
NEOWISE is a project of JPL, a division of Caltech, and the University of Arizona, supported by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
If you want to spot the comet: Try an hour after sunset. The comet will be visible for about an hour or so before it drops below the horizon.
Mikayla Mace works at the communications department of the University of Arizona.
Source: nasa.gov
Leave a Reply