Comet visible in the night sky

A comet visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system is putting on a spectacular display. Named Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, the comet made its close approach to the Sun on July 3, and is crossing outside Earth's orbit on its way back to the outer parts of the solar system by mid-August.

According to NASA, the comet cruised just inside Mercury's orbit on July 3. This very close passage by the Sun “cooked” the comet's outermost layers, causing gas and dust to erupt off the icy surface and creating a large tail of debris.

Observers all over the world are racing to see the natural fireworks display before the comet speeds away. Even the astronauts aboard the International Space Station spotted it from their vantage point high above Earth's atmosphere, NASA said.

Numerous people in the Smokies have sighted the comet before sunrise, and NASA says Comet NEOWISE will begin to make its appearance in the evening sky shortly after sunset on July 11.

For the next few days it will be visible about an hour before sunrise, close to the horizon in the northeastern sky in the United States. Observers might be able to see the comet's central core, or nucleus, with the naked eye in dark skies; using binoculars will give viewers a good look at the fuzzy comet and its long, streaky tail, NASA said.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer - NEOWISE - mission discovered the comet on March 27, using infrared channels which are sensitive to heat signatures.

“Comet NEOWISE appeared as a glowing, fuzzy dot moving across the sky even when it was still pretty far away," said Amy Mainzer, NEOWISE principal investigator at the University of Arizona. "As soon as we saw how close it would come to the Sun, we had hopes that it would put on a good show."