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This is an archive article published on July 10, 2020

Rare Comet NEOWISE will be visible in the sky in July; here’s how you can see

A new comet called Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was discovered by NASA's Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope.

New Comet, Comet, Comets, Comet Neowise, C 2020 F3, Neowise The comet will start fading away when it starts entering the outer parts of the solar system in August. (Image: Roscosmos)

A new comet called Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was discovered by NASA’s Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope. It can be seen by skywatchers at predawn.

According to EarthSky.org, the comet was closest to the Sun on July 3 at 43 million km, which is closer than the average distance between the Sun and Mercury.I t will be at its highest in the dawn sky around July 11, after which it will gradually approach the horizon each day. By mid-July, the comet will be visible at dusk in the northwest horizon.

It is said that if the comet manages to stay brighter, it will also be visible in the second half of July during evening dusk.

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The comet will come the closest to Earth on July 22-23, which is when skywatchers across Northern hemisphere including in India will be able to see it with naked eyes or using binoculars after sunset.

Also Read: Calling it “last night’s fireworks”, NASA astronaut shares pictures of Neowise comet

The comet will start fading away when it starts entering the outer parts of the solar system in August. Comet NEOWISE is a binocular object. Some skywatchers are claiming to have seen it with bare eyes. However, that will not be possible for everyone. So if you want to check out this comet, we recommend that you get a good pair of binoculars.

According to NASA, Comet NEOWISE’s nucleus is about 5 km and it is covered with sooty particles leftover from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. The next time this comet will be visible from Earth will be the year 8,786 — which is almost over 6,000 years later.

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