Comet Neowise
Space has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Since early childhood, I have spent many nights outside, head craned backwards, staring into the sky. In 1997, I stood with other statisticians (my first job in government) in a field late one December night observing Comet Hale-Bopp. In February 2008, I gazed through my telescope towards Comet Holmes, while my cat sat inside on the window ledge watching me curiously. And last night, from our back garden, I stood and marvelled at Comet Neowise.
Discovered in March 2020, Comet Neowise is named after the NASA infra-red space telescope which found it. Neowise offers an incredible opportunity to see a comet without specialist equipment. Indeed, when you know where to look, it’s straightforward to pick out with the naked eye. Neowise’s orbit is such that it won’t be visible from Earth again for around 7,000 years so seeing it now really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. With a nucleus around 3 miles across, and a tail thought to stretch for millions of miles, the comet is travelling at around 40 miles per second. It will travel closest to Earth on 23 July (still some 64 million miles distant), before beginning to move further out into the solar system once more.
Finding Neowise (UK)
There is an abundance of guidance online as to how to spot the comet; local news sources are helpful for your own location. My experience is that the comet was visible from our not particularly elevated garden by around 10.30 pm. It was still in sight when I stopped watching at about 1.00 am. It’s easiest to view by looking slightly to one side of the comet. The tail was pointing upwards, with the nucleus appearing to be heading down towards the horizon. The comet shows as a smudge in the sky, compared to the pin hole light stars.
The diagram above is The Plough, an asterism within the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation. The arrow shows the direction in which I looked to spot Neowise, but over the coming days the comet will travel to pass beneath The Plough. You can find more advice on finding Neowise here.
Naturally, I took the opportunity to photograph the comet while I was admiring it. This picture was taken using a 6 second exposure, with f/4.0 and ISO 8000.
I hope you have an opportunity to look for, and see Comet Neowise. I intend to be out again tonight, head craned backwards, staring into the sky.
I love this photo – it’s so clear! I shall be hoping to spot it tonight if I can too – fingers crossed.
Thank you! It’s so incredible to see. Unfortunately, the skies have been quite cloudy here over the last few nights. I hope you managed to spot it at some point.