1,601 days ago
Dominic Ford, Editor
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Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) will make its closest approach to the Sun on 4 July, at a distance of 0.29 AU.
From Cambridge on the day of perihelion it will not be observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and will be no higher than 5° above the horizon at dawn.
The events that comprise the 2020 apparition of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) are as follows:
| Date | Event |
| 04 Jul 2020 | Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) passes perihelion |
| 23 Jul 2020 | Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) passes perigee |
The table below lists the times when C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) will be visible from Cambridge day-by-day through its apparition:
| Date | Constellation | Comet visibility |
| 13 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 15 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 17 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 19 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 21 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 23 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 25 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 27 Jun 2020 | Orion | Not observable |
| 29 Jun 2020 | Taurus | Not observable |
| 01 Jul 2020 | Taurus | Not observable |
| 03 Jul 2020 | Auriga | Not observable |
| 05 Jul 2020 | Auriga | Visible from 04:32 until 04:47 Highest at 04:47, 10° above NE horizon |
| 07 Jul 2020 | Auriga | Visible from 04:22 until 04:45 Highest at 04:45, 12° above NE horizon |
| 09 Jul 2020 | Auriga | Visible from 04:18 until 04:40 Highest at 04:40, 13° above NE horizon |
| 11 Jul 2020 | Auriga | Visible from 04:20 until 04:35 Highest at 04:35, 13° above NE horizon |
| 13 Jul 2020 | Lynx | Not observable |
| 15 Jul 2020 | Lynx | Not observable |
| 17 Jul 2020 | Lynx | Visible from 21:14 until 21:38 Highest at 21:14, 16° above NW horizon |
| 19 Jul 2020 | Ursa Major | Visible from 21:17 until 22:06 Highest at 21:17, 20° above NW horizon |
| 21 Jul 2020 | Ursa Major | Visible from 21:19 until 22:28 Highest at 21:19, 23° above NW horizon |
| 23 Jul 2020 | Ursa Major | Visible from 21:20 until 22:42 Highest at 21:20, 26° above NW horizon |
A more detailed table of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)'s position on each night is available here. A diagram of the orbit of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is available here.
Finder chart
The chart below shows the path of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) over the course of its apparition, as calculated from the orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). It is available for download, either on dark background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats, or on a light background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats. It was produced using StarCharter.
Comet brightnesses
Comets are intrinsically highly unpredictable objects, since their brightness depends on the scattering of sunlight from dust particles in the comet's coma and tail. This dust is continually streaming away from the comet's nucleus, and its density at any particular time is governed by the rate of sublimation of the ice in the comet's nucleus, as it is heated by the Sun's rays. It also depends on the amount of dust that is mixed in with that ice. This is very difficult to predict in advance, and can be highly variable even between successive apparitions of the same comet.
In consequence, while the future positions of comets are usually known with a high degree of confidence, their future brightnesses are not. For most comets, we do not publish any magnitude estimates at all. For the few comets where we do make estimates, we generally prefer the BAA's magnitude parameters to those published by the Minor Planet Center, since they are typically updated more often.
No estimate for the brightness of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is currently available.
The comet's position at perihelion will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude |
| Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) | 06h02m30s | 30°18'N | Auriga | 0.9 |
The coordinates are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 4 Jul 2020
| The sky on 4 July 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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99% 13 days old |
All times shown in EDT.
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Warning
Never attempt to point a pair of binoculars or a telescope at an object close to the Sun. Doing so may result in immediate and permanent blindness.
Source
This event was automatically generated on the basis of orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) , and is updated whenever new elements become available. It was last updated on 16 Nov 2024.
Image credit
© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.