See kite NEOWISE?
(Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Naval Research Lab / Parker Solar Probe / Brendan Gallagher)
If you see Comet NEOWISE, let us know! Send images and comments to [email protected] to share your views.
Comet NEOWISE is delighting sky watchers throughout the northern hemisphere. But what makes this kite so special?
The comet made its closest approach to the sun on July 3 but, until now, it was only visible in the sky before sunrise. Now, for enthusiastic observers in the northern hemisphere, the comet has been rising in the night sky, shining northwest under the Big Dipper constellation, according to Joe Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator for near-object wide-field infrared survey. to Earth from NASA Explorer, the NASA space telescope that first saw the comet.)
One of the most fascinating details about the NEOWISE comet is that it will not return to our skies for another 6,800 years. But that’s not the only thing that makes this frozen space special. So let’s dive into what makes Comet NEOWISE unique, and a little strange.
Related: How to See NEOWISE Comet in the Night Sky Now
What is Comet NEOWISE?
Officially known as C / 2020 F3, Comet NEOWISE is a comet that was discovered on March 27, 2020 by NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting afterlife of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.
Comets, often nicknamed “cosmic snowballs,” are icy, rocky objects made of ice, rock, and dust. These objects orbit around the sun, and as they glide closer to the sun, most comets heat up and two tails start to flow, one made of dust and gas and an “ion tail” made of gas molecules electrically charged, or ions.
I can see?
Yes! Because it is especially bright, the comet is visible in the night sky with the naked eye. Sky watchers in the northern hemisphere can detect the object just after sunset, to the northwest, just below the Big Dipper constellation.
In fact, the comet is so bright that scientists “can get much more and better data than we normally do for most comets,” Kramer said. “We can study it with a wide variety of different telescopes, and that will allow us to do really interesting studies.”
Related: How to Photograph Comet NEOWISE: NASA Tips for Astronomers
Do I need a telescope?
Not! Because Comet NEOWISE is an especially bright object, it is relatively easy for astronomy enthusiasts to see it in the night sky with the naked eye, although binoculars or a small telescope will give you a better view.
“The fact that we can see it is really what makes it unique,” Kramer said. “It is rare enough that a comet is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye or even just with binoculars.”
Plus: Best Telescopes for the Money – 2020 Reviews and Guide
How does it look in the sky?
For those who see the comet with the naked eye, without tools or instruments like a telescope, it looks like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail. However, you must be away from the city lights.
With binoculars or a small telescope, the comet will be clearer and the tail will be easier to detect.
Related: Incredible photos of Comet NEOWISE from Earth and space
How much water is in the comet?
There are “about 13 million Olympic water pools,” on the NEOWISE comet, Emily Kramer, co-investigator of the NASA NEOWISE science team at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said during a press conference on 15 September. July. “So it is a lot of water.”
“Most comets are about half water and half dust,” he added.
It has a tail?
The NEOWISE kite has two tails that generally accompany each kite.
When a comet approaches the sun, it warms up and the material moves away from the surface to form a tail. Often the dust is removed along with the gases from the sublimated ice (going directly from solid to gas). This dust tail is the trail seen in most kite images. Comets also have an ion tail made of ionized gas that is blown back by the solar wind.
Researchers studying Comet NEOWISE may also have a sodium tail. By looking at what they believe to be atomic sodium in the comet’s tail, researchers can get a clear picture of the object’s composition.
How big is the comet NEOWISE?
The NEOWISE comet is approximately 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, “which is a reasonably large but medium-sized comet,” Kramer said.
“It is rare to see something so bright,” he added. “There are comets that are this size that we see regularly, but most of them are so from Earth that they don’t shine as much. They are too far from the sun and Earth to be able to see them the way we are seeing this NEOWISE comet” .
How fast is Comet NEOWISE?
The comet travels at about 40 miles per second (i.e. approximately 144,000 mph, or 231,000 km / h).
Joe Masiero, deputy principal investigator for the NEOWISE mission, said the comet moves about twice the speed of Earth around the sun. But don’t expect that quick clip to last.
Due to the comet’s extremely elliptical orbit, it will slow down as it reaches its furthest point from the sun, then retreat back into the inner solar system and accelerate again when heading back to the sun. That journey around the sun has ended for Comet NEOWISE’s current orbit and is returning to the outer solar system.
“And so, as you move away from the sun, [it] “It will decrease as that severity rises again,” Masiero said.
Will it hit Earth?
Don’t be afraid, Comet NEOWISE will not hit Earth.
“This particular comet has no chance of impacting Earth. It crosses the plane of Earth’s orbit within recovery orbit and almost close to Mercury’s orbit, so there is absolutely no danger from this comet.” Lindley Johnson, the planetary defense officer and program executive of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA headquarters, said during the press conference.
The comet orbits the sun every 600 to 700 years, Johnson said. The comet is currently about 70 million miles (111 million km) from Earth.
Is it from interstellar space?
No, Comet NEOWISE originates from our own solar system. To date, only two interstellar objects have been discovered: ‘Oumuamua and Comet Borisov.
“We know this is not an interstellar object. By looking at its motion, we can see that it is attached to the sun’s gravity,” Kramer said. “So it’s coming very fast and then it’s going to go back a long way and then it’s going to come back in about 6,800 years.”
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook.
