Comet NEOWISE has delighted sky watchers across the globe this month, with photographers turning their lenses upward and capturing it over landmarks throughout the northern hemisphere.
In the Pacific Northwest, photographers have been capturing his trail in a context that includes the Northern Lights and the rare “bright at night” summer clouds.
Seattle-based KOMO News meteorologist Scott Sistek explained the phenomenon in a Facebook post Tuesday, describing the event as “a nightly show that photographers and sky watchers will talk about for centuries.”
The comet, named C / 2020 F3, was discovered in March by NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope.
A COMET IS VISIBLE THIS MONTH: NASA HAS THESE TIPS FOR SKYWATCHERS
The comet was seen hovering around Stonehenge on a perfect summer night. (Credit: SWNS)
Photographers from around the world have had fun capturing landmarks like Stonehenge in the UK and over the Colorado National Monument on the outskirts of Grand Junction, Colorado.
Comet Neowise soars into the horizon of the early morning sky as viewed from near the viewpoint of the Colorado National Monument west of Grand Junction, Colorado on Thursday, July 9, 2020. The newly discovered comet crosses Earth, providing space Heavenly night show after buzzing the sun and expanding its tail. (Conrad Earnest via AP)
The comet will remain visible with binoculars in the northern hemisphere until July 23, according to NASA. Some spectators have been able to see it with the naked eye in the right conditions.
Its long road is mostly made up of dust and gases and stretches for millions of miles, according to the space agency.
Authorities say the comet can best be seen in the northeast sky about an hour before sunrise until July 15. After that, they say it will look best in the northwest sky just after sunset.
In this image released by NASA, Comet Neowise, on the left, is seen on the eastern horizon above Earth in this image taken from the International Space Station on Sunday, July 5, 2020. (NASA via AP)
The comet’s closest approach to Earth will occur on July 22 at a distance of 64 million miles, the space agency said. It is not expected to return for almost 7,000 years.
The last highly visible comet, Hale-Bopp, hit the Earth in 1997, according to NASA. An average person is expected to experience four such events in their lifetime, even with about 3,650 known comets in the sun’s orbit.
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Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this report.
