Credit: Javier Manteca
Sky watchers across the northern hemisphere are being treated with stunning views of Comet NEOWISE as it crosses Earth. Amateur astrophotographer Javier Manteca received a bonus: the International Space Station and the comet are seen in transit through Madrid in this photo captured on July 11, 2020.
Taken at sunrise, the image is a composition of 17 stacked images exposed every 2.5 seconds to form the horizon.
Comet C / 2020 F3 NEOWISE is named after POTExplorer mission for wide-field infrared reconnaissance of near-Earth objects that discovered it in March 2020. The comet completed its perihelion, or closest step to the Sun, on July 3 and returns outside of our Solar System, to Do not go back another 6800 years.
Comets are the icy remnants of the planet’s formation 4.6 billion years ago, leading scientists to think of them as cosmic time capsules. Kites have distinctive tails caused by the removal of dust grains from the nucleus of the kite.
The flyby of the Earth by the comet is a rare opportunity to observe and collect data on these cosmic time capsules. Many spacecraft have observed the comet, including the ESA / NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, as well as astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
ESA comet hunter Rosetta followed Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two years before landing the Philae probe on its surface. The mission accumulated a large amount of data that will be studied in the coming years.
As Comet NEOWISE approaches Earth at a comfortable (and safe) distance of 103 million km, star gazers can get more views of the comet through July. Check Earth and Sky or Astronomy Now for times and locations.
