For those who like to gaze at the sky and admire the celestial bodies, there is something in store for you this week! You will be able to catch a glimpse of a rare comet called C/2020 F3, which is also dubbed as NEOWISE. It is currently hurtling through space and will be visible to Indians for almost 20 days, starting July 14.
Rare Comet To Be Visible To The Naked Eye
According to Dr. Subhendu Pattnaik, who is the Deputy Director at Pathani Samanta Planetarium, “the comet will be visible to the naked eye from July 14 onwards in the north-western sky.” If you want to catch a glimpse of it, it will possible after sunset, as it will be visible for 20 minutes. People will be able to experience this particular phenomenon for the next 20 days. “The comet will be rising rapidly towards the sky in the evening hours and hence will be visible for a longer time,” Pattnaik added, while in conversation with ANI.
Last night I scoured Google Earth lining up roads that would matched the bearing of where the comet would rise this morning. Finally found a spot along my favorite road in Wupatki National Monument and narrowed to this creviced bend to work with. #neowise #cometneowise 1/ pic.twitter.com/zI3TkVlv1H
— Jeremy Perez (@jperez1690) July 9, 2020
Also read: Indian Mountain Ranges That Were Clearly Visible During Lockdown
Glimpses Of The Comet From Around The World
NEOWISE, was discovered earlier this year in March. As per reports, it is currently 200 million kilometres away from earth and will be closest on July 22. By August, it is expected to fade away. We suggest that you try to spot it in the sky this time around, because the comet will be this close to Earth again, after 7,000 years. So if you miss it this time, you won’t be able to spot it, the next time around.
Last night's fireworks, for real. Because Science. #NEOWISE #comet pic.twitter.com/IKcJ1wLFAl
— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) July 5, 2020
On Twitter, earlier this week, NASA scientist Bob Behnken shared pictures of the comet, which had been taken from the International Space Station (ISS). In fact people from different parts of the world, like Lebanon, Israel, Austria, Switzerland and France, also shared glimpses of the comet that they were able to capture on the camera.
Même avec boitier &objectif inadaptés, vous pouvez photographier la comète Neowise. Enfin une superbe comète ! pic.twitter.com/zTlS2WTLzg
— franck selsis (@fselsis) July 12, 2020
Also read: Dazzling Ring Of Fire Solar Eclipse Pictures From Across The World
This year, India has been witness to various celestial marvels. From the eclipse to the strawberry soon. Since, we are under lockdown, we can afford to spend our evenings, staring at the sky quite literally. Who knows, if we are lucky, we might be able to spot the comet!