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Neowise comet makes closest approach to Earth – here’s how to see it

It is one of the few comets this century that can be seen with the naked eye from Earth

Anthony Cuthbertson

Thursday 23 July 2020 19:28 BST

An unprocessed image from the WISPR instrument on board NASA’s Parker Solar Probe shows comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020, shortly after its closest approach to the Sun (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher)

The comet Neowise has made its closest pass of Earth, giving skygazers around the world the best chance to view the celestial visitor.

It is one of the few comets this century that can be seen with the naked eye, and has been visible throughout the month of July.

The night of 22 July marked the perigee point, or closest distance to Earth, before it begins its journey back out towards the furthest reaches of the solar system.

The comet was first discovered in March, though its distance from the Earth made it difficult to spot. There were fears that it would disintegrate as it flew by the sun, however it remained in tact to swing close by Earth.

At its closest point, Neowise was within 64.3 million miles of Earth, according to Nasa's orbit calculator.

For sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere, the best time to see the comet is around an hour after sunset in the constellation of Ursa Major. This can be found just below the popular Big Dipper constellation, also known as the Plough.

For those in areas with poor visibility due to bad weather or light pollution, a live stream of the comet will be broadcast on YouTube by the Virtual Telescope Project.

Some astronomers have complained that the Starlink satellite network has obstructed views of the comet, with timelapse images resulting in streaks across the sky.

There are currently more than 400 Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth as part of SpaceX's plan to beam high-speed internet down to Earth.

The private space firm eventually hopes to form a constellation of around 12,000 satellites, though it is already taking measures to make them less visible.

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

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1/10Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust standing at three-light-years tall, bursting with jets of gas from fledgling stars buried within, was captured by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010

Nasa/ESA/STScI

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

The first ever selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012

Nasa/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Death of a star: This image from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our Milky Way galaxy

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, pictured here on 1 January 2019 by a camera on Nasa's New Horizons spaceraft at a distance of 4.1 billion miles from Earth

Getty

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

The first ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving Nasa, and released on 10 April 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light-years from Earth

Getty

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Pluto, as pictured by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew over the dwarf planet for the first time ever in July 2015

Nasa/APL/SwRI

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

A coronal mass ejection as seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks running downhill on the surface Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary flowing water. It has since been suggested that they may instead be formed by flowing sand

Nasa/JPL/University of Arizona

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Morning Aurora: Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station in October 2015

Nasa/Scott Kelly

The Neowise comet will continue to be visible over the coming days but will slowly become increasingly difficult to view.

Apps like SkyPortal and SkySafari 6 will help budding astronomers locate it as it disappears away from Earth.

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