Home » Technology » The “brightest comet in the last seven years” can already be seen with the naked eye from Earth

The “brightest comet in the last seven years” can already be seen with the naked eye from Earth

The C / 2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE, will be visible throughout this month.

During this month, Comet C / 2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE, by the name of the telescope that discovered it, you can be seen with the naked eye depending on the atmospheric conditions, since despite its great brightness, it can be covered by clouds, mist, humid air, smoke, city lights, moonlight and other phenomena.

As published by the portal Space, it is expected that next Saturday the 11th the comet will reach an altitude close to 10 degrees, while in the following 10 days it will gradually slide towards the horizon in a north-northeast direction, losing the visibility it currently has during dawn. However, the overnight viewing perspective will improve from July 12.

Meanwhile, his closest approximation to land It will be on Wednesday 22, when it will be at a distance of 103 million kilometers, while by the 25th it is expected to be at 30 degrees and at the end of the month it will pass to the north of the Coma Berenices constellation.

The first images

Amateur astronomers managed to see the celestial object before dawn on July 1. “If the comet were in dark skies at a decent elevation, it would be a spectacular object with the naked eye,” said Ray Brooks, who managed to observe it with binoculars.

His step was also captured on July 5 by other fans such as Chris Schur, from Payson (Arizona, USA), who took images with an Explore Scientific AR152 mm telescope. “I was able to see it easily with the naked eye with about a degree of tail visually. Splendid yellow color in the viewfinder,” he said.

Meanwhile, astronomer Carl Hergenrother, from Tucson (Arizona, USA), observed it on July 1 and 2 and expressed that it seems as bright as a first magnitude star, despite being very low on the horizon. and faced a brilliant twilight.

For his part, the expert John E. Bortle, from Stormville (New York), pointed out that, “theoretically”, the comet should not continue to shine as it does, since “its distance from the Sun is experiencing only a small daily reduction” , for which he estimates that the brightness of the NEOWISE does not depend “on its distance from the Sun”, but suffers “some type of slow and progressive burst “.

On July 5, Russian cosmonaut Iván Vágner shared a photo of the comet taken from the International Space Station. “I tried to get Comet C / 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) a little closer, the brightest in the last seven years, “ he commented, adding that “his tail was clearly visible from the Space Station.”

The C / 2020 F3, which was discovered on March 27, is the first such object that can be observed this year after the kites ATLAS and SWAN, but unlike these, that finally they ended up fading, NEOWISE managed to survive its closest approach to Sol.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.