Comet NEOWISE (short for C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) was the brightest comet to grace Northern Hemisphere skies in decades. It began to become visible in the Northern Hemisphere about an hour before sunrise on July 7, 2020 and on July 15 it transitioned to the evening sky shortly after sunset. It’s has long, elliptical orbit of 6,800 years.
According to NASA, comet Neowise has a nucleus measuring roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers while pointing away from the Sun. The icy visitor was discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft as the comet was headed toward the Sun. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on July 3, and then turned back toward the outer solar system.
Comets are made of frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago. The masses of dust, rock, and ice heat up when approaching the Sun and as they get closer, they spew gases and dust into a glowing head and tail. The comet is made visible by sunlight reflecting off of its gas emissions and dust tail.
Although it was only visible to the unaided eye for a few days of its visit, it provided spectacular views with binoculars and cameras for about 2 weeks.
Even with the sky being lit by the rising sun, the comet was easy to spot by eye as it hovered over the north eastern horizon. It was bright enough to capture with just a 1 second exposure taken at 4:57 am, July 11, 2020 from a farm field on the east side of Bloomington, IN (off route 446).
Comet NEOWISE at 5:11 am, July 11, 2020 as seen in the rapidly increasing dawn light. Photo taken from a farm field on east side of Bloomington, IN (off Route 446).
Comet NEOWISE in the north eastern sky behind a backhoe at 5:03 am, July 13, 2020. Venus and the Pleiades are seen along the right side of the image. Viewed from road paving staging area in a farm field just off Rt 446 on the east side of Bloomington, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in the evening twilight (10:39 pm. July 13, 2020). Viewed from soybean field on Moores Pike on the east side of Bloomington, IN.
The photo was taken at 10:46 shortly before clouds and haze moved in from the western horizon and blocked is from our view. Taken from the Visitors Center at the Goose Pond Wetland Preserve south of Linton, IN.
After comet NEOWISE became lost in the clouds and haze in the north east, a turn of my head revealed a clearer southern sky with this view of Saturn, Jupiter and the Milky Way (from left to right). Seeing the Milky Way this clearly in Indiana is a rare treat. The orange glow over the right horizon is from the lights of a town a few miles away (likely Freelandville, IN). The lights in the foreground are from farms about 1 mile from the visitors center. The photo was taken on July 14 at 11:17 from the Visitors Center at the Goose Pond Wetland Preserve south of Linton, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in evening twilight at 10:44 pm, July 16, 2020. Viewed from the perimeter of the Oliver Winery Vineyards on Woodall Road on west side of Bloomington, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in evening twilight July 16, 2020. A 10 min exposure (20 image stack) revealed details of the long ion and dust tails in spite of the clouds that kept slowly moving past. Taken with a 105 mm lens from Oliver Winery vineyards on Woodall Road on west side of Bloomington, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in twilight at 10:47 pm, July 18, 2020. The white glow is from the Bear Run Coal Mine, one of the largest operating coal strip mines in Indiana. The orange glow is from the coal-powered lights of the town of Sullivan. IN. Viewed from the Visitors Center at the Goose Pond Wetland Preserve south of Linton, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in twilight at 11:14 pm, July 18, 2020. The white glow is from the Bear Run Coal Mine, one of the largest operating strip mines in Indiana. The orange glow is from the coal-powered lights of the town of Sullivan. IN. Viewed from the Visitors Center at the Goose Pond Wetland Preserve south of Linton, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in evening twilight July 23, 2020. A 7 min exposure (19 image stack) through the seemingly ever-present haze resolved the ion and dust tails. Taken with 24-70mm lens at 30 mm lens from Oliver Winery vineyards on Woodall Road on west side of Bloomington, IN.
Comet NEOWISE in evening twilight July 23, 2020. A 4 min exposure (13 image stack) revealed the long ion (left) and dust tails (right). Taken with a 105 mm lens from Oliver Winery vineyards on Woodall Road on west side of Bloomington, IN.
Comet NEOWISE as seen on July 23, 2020 through moon-lit haze over trees on west side of Yellowwood Lake (Brown County, IN) at around 11 pm.
By averaging eleven 15 sec exposures and a 300 mm lens, the ion and dust tails could be resolved through the moon-lit haze. Taken on July 23, 2020 through moon-lit haze over trees on west side of Yellowwood Lake (Brown County, IN) around 11:15 pm.
While the comet was disappearing into the midwest haze, the southern sky presented another nice view of Saturn, Jupiter and the Milky Way (with a firefly). The photo was taken from the dam on Yellowwood Lake (Brown County, IN) at around 11:30 pm.
This animated GIF shows the motion of the comet relative to the stars over a 20 min period. According to NASA, Comet Neowise has a nucleus measuring roughly 3 miles in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of miles while pointing away from the Sun.
Comet NEOWISE as seen at 10:50 pm on July 26 from our backyard. At this point it was rapidly dimming as rapidly heads back into deep space. With the ever-present midwest haze and increasing moonlight from the waxing moon it is now a challenge to even find it.
