Comet NEOWISE is likely to come closest to Earth on July 22, after already making an eye-catching appearance on July 3, when it had come really close to the sun. By Tanvi Jain
Blink or you might miss it. ☄️
Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE 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: https://t.co/WZHOixh69x pic.twitter.com/JYDRwTpfxo
— NASA (@NASA) July 8, 2020
Comet NEOWISE also called C/2020 F3, which passed by the sun, real close — within just 44 million kilometres — on July 3, is now expected to pass by the Earth in a few days – likely to be closest on July 22. It was first spotted on March 27 in an image captured by NASA‘s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft and was therefore named NEOWISE.
“A comet visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system is putting on a spectacular nighttime display. 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,” NASA had mentioned on its website.
Last night's fireworks, for real. Because Science. #NEOWISE #comet pic.twitter.com/IKcJ1wLFAl
— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) July 5, 2020
“Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE 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.” it had confirmed in a tweet.
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken and his ISS colleague Russian Cosmonaut Ivan Vagner also took to Twitter to share pictures of the comet.
“During the next revolution, I tried to capture the C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) comet a bit closer, the brightest one over the last 7 years. Its tail is quite clearly visible from the @Space_Station!” said Vagner.
During the next revolution I tried to capture the C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) comet a bit closer, the brightest one over the last 7 years.
Its tail is quite clearly visible from the @Space_Station!#ISS #comet #NEOWISE pic.twitter.com/FnWkCummD6
— Ivan Vagner (@ivan_mks63) July 4, 2020
As the comet is now getting closer by the day, it was already spotted by astronomers on July 6 and is now expected to be even more visible by mid-July. “Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is up at dawn now; it will be highest in the dawn sky around July 11. Then it will gradually approach the horizon each day. By mid-July (around July 12-15), the comet will become visible at dusk (just after sunset), low in the northwest horizon,” a report by EarthSky recently mentioned.
Related: A Bright Comet Is Approaching Earth And Here’s How You Can Spot It
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