Known as one of the brightest comets to pass near the Earth in over two decades, comet C/2020 F3 or NEOWISE will be visible in the northern hemisphere starting today. All stargazers can take a look at it as it is likely to be visible to the naked eyes. News agency ANI citing deputy director of Odisha’s Pathani Samanta Planetarium said that the comet can be visible everyday for 20 days and for 20 minutes.
The comet had been discovered by NASA’s Near Earth Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) earlier this year. Comet C/2020 F3 is expected to come closest to planet Earth on July 22 and July 23 and can be visible in the north-western sky.
What exactly is a comet?
A comet is a cosmic snowball made up of frozen gases, rocks and some dust, which orbits around in an elliptical manner. When a comet reaches closer to the sun, its gases start to evaporate in a way that leaves a tail and a glowing head. Since they do not have their light on their own, they mostly reflect the sun’s light. In a dark sky, these comets can be easily viewed.
Will it be visible in India?
Since the comet is visible in the northern hemisphere, Indians can too experience passing of this comet. In the next 20 days, the comet will be visible in the evening sky. According to a report by the Indian Express, the comet is likely to be visible in the northwestern horizon after the sunset going forward.
How to view NEOWISE?
Since the comet is expected to be the closest to Earth, it can be viewed by the naked eyes. But NASA believes that it will be easier to view from a small telescope or binoculars. There have been many reports where people have witnessed it with naked eyes only.
What’s more interesting is that astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) were able to take some pictures of the comet. Bob Behnken, who is one of the astronauts who flew on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on July 6 said that it looks like fireworks in the sky.