The heart of the comet, its icy nucleus, is too small to be seen by Hubble. It lets us see changes in the dust right after it’s stripped from that nucleus due to solar heat, sampling dust as close to the original properties of the comet as possible.” “That resolution is very key for seeing details very close to the nucleus. “Hubble has far better resolution than we can get with any other telescope of this comet,” said lead researcher Qicheng Zhang of Caltech in Pasadena, California. Other comets often break apart due to thermal and gravitational stresses at such close encounters, but Hubble’s view shows that apparently NEOWISE’s solid nucleus stayed intact. This is the first time Hubble has photographed a comet of this brightness at such resolution after this close of a pass by the Sun.Ĭomet photos were taken after NEOWISE skimmed closest to the sun on July 3, 2020, at a distance of 27 million miles (43 million kilometers). NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of comet NEOWISE, taken on August 8, zero in on the visitor’s coma, the gossamer shell of gas and dust that surrounds its nucleus as it is heated by the Sun. Four Successful Women Behind the Hubble Space Telescope's Achievements.Characterizing Planets Around Other Stars.Measuring the Universe's Expansion Rate.“As a byproduct of these searches, we get to see something really beautiful that reminds us of our connection to the larger universe.,” Mainzer says. While not required, a pair of binoculars or a telescope will enhance the view.Įven astronomers look on in awe. The comet will be about as bright as the stars appearing close by in the Big Dipper, a constellation also known as Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. To the naked eye, Neowise will appear as a fuzzy star streaking across the sky. She notes that this one is “very large, about as big as the object that wiped out the dinosaurs,” but that it fortunately “poses no hazard.”īy studying comets like Neowise, scientists hope to learn more about the solar system’s origins-and avoid potential extinction “We need to know what comets and asteroids are made of and how crumbly they are-or solid-if we ever have to push one out of the way,” Mainzer says. “We want to spot objects like Comet Neowise well before they can make any close approaches,” Amy Mainzer, principal investigator for the NEOWISE project and professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, said in an email to Fortune. People can also enter their locations into a helpful online app developed by a NASA volunteer to determine the best viewing opportunities. Visit for additional observational details, or Sky & Telescope magazine. Look to the northeast about an hour before sunrise for the telltale trailing tail, which will slip beneath the horizon and out of view in the coming days.
In addition to its nighttime show, Neowise is temporarily visible for early risers in the morning too. The space-rock is expected to return again in 6,800 years.
The comet will appear all night under the Big Dipper constellation.Įach evening the comet climbs higher in the sky until eventually it fades from view. People can view the comet, officially, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)-with the naked eye in the northwest skies.
The celestial guest will make its closest approach to Earth on July 23 at a distance of 64 million miles-about equal to Mercury’s average distance from Earth. The brightest comet to grace our skies in nearly a quarter century is visible in the Northern Hemisphere through mid-August.
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