Comet Neowise

  • Comet Neowise was visible from Earth in July 2020, standing out for its intense brightness.
  • Originating in the Oort Cloud, Neowise has an orbital period of approximately 6,800 years.
  • Discovered by the WISE telescope, its previous passage occurred 3,000 years ago.
  • Its closest approach to Earth was on July 23, 2020, at 103 million kilometers.

comet Neowise

There are numerous comets throughout the universe that can affect our orbit. One of them is Comet Neowise. It is one of the brightest comets ever observed from our planet. It was visible in June 2020 and was quite impressive.

In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, origin and curiosities of comet Neowise.

Key features

comet of 2020

Comet Neowise is of great scientific importance. It can be expected to have a level 2 brightness, that is, to have a high brightness, allowing us to see it from a distance without the need for telescopes or binoculars. Again, this is a kite from the Oort Cloud. These data are important because these comets often contain raw material from the nebulae that formed our solar system. Thus, they provide a great deal of information about the origin of the universe. Furthermore, in the study of comets like Neowise, we can observe the relationship with other astronomical phenomena, such as comets of the solar system.

It is thus one of the brightest comets that have passed through the Earth in recent decades, leaving us the opportunity to see it with the naked eye during this month and passing through our planet again, previsibly, in about 6.800 years.

It was visible from July 11th to 17th. Comet Neowise was visible shortly before dawn (around 6:XNUMX a.m.), hovering over Spain (in the Northern Hemisphere). To find it, simply look northeast, near the lower horizon. At low levels, you could see the fewest obstacles on the horizon. It was also important to be located in an area with little light pollution to fully appreciate the entire sky.

The closest time it approached Earth was on July 23, and it was approximately 103 million kilometers closer to Earth at magnitude 4. The distance is large enough that there is no danger of impact, so there is no reason to worry about this phenomenon. However, although the closest date to Earth was July 23, Comet Neowise was visible to the naked eye, and its intensity remained at level 2 until Wednesday, July 15.

Origin of Comet Neowise

starry sky and celestial objects

the comet was detected on March 27, 2020 in infrared images. It was discovered during the Near-Earth Objects project by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. This space telescope was able to detect a magnitude 17 object with an angular magnitude of 0.8 feet. Gradually, some observers were able to confirm its activity as a comet, measuring a fairly condensed coma up to 2 feet in diameter and a tail 20 inches long.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has a quasi-parabolic orbit, meaning it is not new, as its previous passage was about 3.000 years ago. Its next perihelion will be on July 3, 2020, at a distance of just 0.29 AU from the Sun, and its closest approach to Earth. a few days later on July 23, 2020 at 0.69 AU from our planet.

It had an unusually rapid increase in brightness compared to what we are used to from other comets. The light curve stabilized throughout the month of May with absolute magnitude parameters of m0 = 7. These values ​​correspond to a nucleus about two kilometers in diameter and a high activity rate of n = 5. It is important to know that there is an index that expresses the risk of a comet disintegrating during its trajectory. In this case, Comet Neowise has a moderate risk of disintegration according to the Bortle survival limit. In the context of comets, it is interesting to relate this information to the study of stellar births.

Comet Neowise Timeline

characteristics of comet neowise

In the first 10 days of June, the brightness of Comet Neowise continued to increase, reaching level 7. According to the trend since May, its brightness was half lower than expected, although this may be due to the low altitude of southern observers. If we study the size of the observed coma, it also decreased during those dates and condensation increased. This means that observing comets like Neowise is essential to understanding their behavior, just as it is with other comets.

Fortunately, between June 22 and 28, the comet approached within 2° of the Sun, entering the field of view of the LASCO-C3 camera on the SOHO space telescope. This telescope, dedicated to observing the Sun's outer atmosphere, has coronagraphs that hide the direct light from the solar disk, allowing it to record, in addition to the Sun's emissions, bright objects that approach it angularly, as is the case with many comets.

Therefore, we could observe in the place how the comet approached perihelion in a good state, producing a dust tail and an ion tail, and allowing us to measure their brightness. It increased in brightness from magnitude 2 to magnitude 3 in 6 days. This confirmed that it remained within the same predicted light curve. By July 11, 2020, the comet could already be clearly observed with the naked eye below the star Capella del Auriga, still during morning twilight but noticeably higher than days before.

Kite moving away

After its closest approach to Earth on July 23, the comet's distance from the United States was 0,69. On Earth, the comet's brightness continued to decrease until it became unobservable with the naked eye at magnitude 4.5. Even when visible through binoculars, despite the moonlight, its tail remained bright and completely observable. Its coma remained within an angular range of approximately 8 minutes (absolute distance of 300.000 km), and condensation continued to level 6 and was still very strong. The length of the tail observed with binoculars was 3 degrees.

As you can see, this comet was one of the best known and most observed by experts and amateurs. I hope that with this information you can learn more about Comet Neowise and its characteristics. It is also recommended that you continue studying other associated phenomena such as the showers of stars that provide us with valuable information about the universe.


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