A newly-discovered comet dubbed NEOWISEwill be visible this week to the naked eye. It’s the first visible comet of2020.
The comet, officially known as C/2020 F3,was spotted by NASA’s NEOWISE satellite in March, as it made its initialapproach to the sun. It survived its loop around the sun and will be reachingthe point in its orbit where it is closest to Earth in the next week. NEOWISEis expected to remain visible to the naked eye through July.
Those in the northern hemisphere can catchthis comet in the north sky for most of the month at early dawn and dusk.Comets often appear faint in the sky , so it is easiest to catch a glimpse inthe early morning and evening, when there is just enough sunlight to see themagainst the night sky, but not so much they are washed out.
"For the northern hemisphere, it’svery low to the horizon in the early morning," says Karl Battams, anastrophysicist with the Naval Research Laboratory. "People need to get upearly, but it’s easily visible with binoculars."
The comet got a special shout-out over theweekend from Bob Behnken, a NASA astronaut currently aboard the InternationalSpace Station after participating in the first launch of SpaceX Dragon Crew inMay.
ISS astronaut Ivan Vagner also tweetedabout the comet, noting its large, visible tail. The tail on NEOWISE couldindicate that it is strong enough to remain intact in orbit.
People on Earth have also started seeingthe comet on the horizon, says NASA. With its Astronomy Picture of the Dayprogram, NASA invites anyone — amateur to professional astronomers — tosubmit their own photos of cosmic events here.
Part of the NEOWISEsatellite operations is to help researchers distinguish between near-earthobjects with dangerous orbits (potentially hazardous aster oids, or PHAs), andthose that are not a threat, according to NASA. Its infrared lens allows it tosee comets particularly well, as they are commonly darker objects in the nightsky, says Battams.
NASA’s NEOWISE satellite launched first in2009 as WISE. It’s relaunch in 2013 as NEOWISE brought with it a new mission:"to assist NASA’s efforts to ide ntify and characterize the population ofnear-Earth objects," says NASA.
"NEOWISE is a really crucial satellitefor nearer or potentially hazardous asteroids," says Battams. "It’s areally important satellite to have."
During its tenure, NEOWISE has discoveredhundreds of thousands of near-Earth objects, or NEOs. Data collected by NEOWISEis critical in mapping solar bodies and analyzing the trajectory of spaceobjects, including this new comet.
Found a new comet visible to the naked eye
This week, a newly discovered comet named NEOWISE will be visible to the naked eye. This is the first visible comet in 2020.
This comet, officially called C/2020F3, was discovered by NASA’s NEOWISE satellite in March because its initial trajectory was close to the sun. It survived in the circumsolar belt and will approach the nearest point of the earth next week along its orbit. It is expected that NEOWISE will remain visible to the naked eye in July.
People in the northern hemisphere can catch this comet in the early morning and dusk for half a month in the northern hemisphere. Comets are usually faint in the sky, and can be seen in the night sky when there is enough light, but they are most easily seen in the morning and evening if the light is too strong and difficult to show.
Carl Ba tamms, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, said, "For the northern hemisphere, the horizon in the morning is very low. People need to get up early, but it’s easy to see with a telescope. "
This comet received special attention from NASA astronaut Bob Bainken last weekend. He participated in the first launch of the "Space X Dragon" crew in May this year and is currently on the International Space Station.
International Space Station astronaut Ivan Wagner also posted the comet on Twitter, pointing out that the comet’s tail is large and visible. NEOWISE’s tail may indicate that it is strong enough to remain intact in orbit.
Nasa said that people on earth also began to watch the comet on the horizon. NASA invites anyone-amateurs-professional astronomers-to submit their own photos of cosmic events through the Daily Astronomical Picture Program.
According to NASA, part of the operation of NEOWISE satellite is to help researchers distinguish near-earth objects (potentially dangerous asteroids or PHA) with dangerous orbits from those that are not threatening. Tamms said that its infrared lens can see comets particularly clearly, because they are usually dark objects in the night sky.
Nasa’s NEOWISE satellite was first launched as WISE in 2009. It was relaunched in 2013 because NEOWISE brought a new mission: "To assist NASA in its efforts to identify and map the number of near-Earth objects," NASA said.
"NEOWISE is a very critical satellite for approaching or potentially dangerous asteroids," said Ba tamms. "This is a very important satellite."
During its mission, NEOWISE satellite discovered hundreds of thousands of NEOs. The data collected by NEOWISE is very important for drawing the map of solar celestial bodies and analyzing the trajectory of space objects, including this new comet.