Comet Hunting: Neowise ☄a

Have y’all heard about the comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE passing by at the moment?

I am beyond hyped - astronomic events like this are incredibly fascinatig, right?

Thise pile of dirt, stones and ice is about as old as our solar system - 4,6 billion years - and right now it’s so close (about 140 Million kilometers…) to us that it’s visible to the naked eye!! This happens only every 7000 years - that means we have the once in a lifetime chance to see the very same thing our ancestors in the stone age saw!! How scary - and magical - must that have been?

Last night I sat down in the park with with a friend and some drinks and snacks. We weren’t too optimistic to be able to spot Neowise because of the cloudy weather and all the city lights…but we did!! :star_struck: A tiny, blurry comet with a visible tail!! We stared at it for more than two hours and it was truly enchanting. :comet: :sparkles:

Unfortunately the circumstances weren’t good enough for a photo, tho :frowning:

Are any of you guys interested in that kind of stuff? Has anyone spotted the comet yet and did you maybe even get a picture? Let’s talk about astronomical magic!

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I find it extremely interesting - especially thinking about how it only happens every 7000 years. We are literally looking at the same thing our ancestors looked at. It hasn’t been touched by man :heartpulse: and that is a beautiful thing!

I haven’t had a chance to go try to find it, but I definitely take some time to poke around NASA’s website and look at some stuff. Maybe someone else here has gotten a good photo of it - or just saw it for themselves!

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Thanks for sharing, @melewho!! I have only seen one comet in my life and I loved it!! This is a great opportunity to see another one!

I found this page that says How to see Comet Neowise this week. There are mobile apps such as Starwalk 2 that help you find objects in the sky, unfortunately the comet is not available in the free version (only paid).

I will look up tonight and try to spot it!

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Ohhhhh this is really interesting! :star_struck::comet: I’m so glad you and your friend were able to see the comet- so exciting! Living in the city I doubt I’d be able to see it, but it looks like people are posting pictures around the internet! The comet looks gorgeous :sparkles:

It looks like CNN has published an article and video about Comet Neowise! Here are some pictures from the article:

Thank you for sharing about the comet :comet: - I hope some others are able to catch sight of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! :blush:

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These are the kind of small revelations that keep me grounded and make me feel connected to Earth. The simple fact we can acknowledge this above other creatures on this planet is just fantastic.

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I looked up and tried to find it last night. There’s an app called Comet Book available for Android and iPhone that tells you where to look.

I didn’t see it because of the trees but this week I’ll try to climb up to a hill and see if I can spot it. I really want to catch the comet!! :smiley:

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It is also something that gives me like…an existential crisis lmao

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LOL me too! 7,000 years! :open_mouth:

I just found another app that’s free on Android and tells you EXACTLY where to look: SkySafari.

The other app (Comet Book) wouldn’t tell me where to look, just where in the sky it is… I’m going to see it!! :comet:

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