Comet streaking past Earth, providing spectacular show | Hacker News Reader

Comet streaking past Earth, providing spectacular show

phys.org

86 pointsdnetesn22 comments

This article has instructions for observing it: https://skyandtelescope.org/press-releases/new-bright-visito...

NEOWISE has been lining up with outbreaks of noctilucent clouds [0] as well for fortunate observers! With its position moving to be visible in the evening rather than before the crack of dawn it'll be a lot easier to look for soon for most of us. Seeing Hale-Bopp is one of the two most memorable astronomical phenomenon I've witnessed - It's on par with randomly seeing an exploding fireball while taking out the trash. This one's no Hale-Bopp but I would argue any naked eye comet is stunning and memorable. Don't pass this one up if you can help it.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud

Also, tons of photos:

https://spaceweathergallery.com/index.php?title=neowise

Here’s a really nice picture of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) from the RDU airport parking deck.

https://imgur.com/njJvFwc

Taken at 4:50 am on July 10th by reddit user enlightened_prince (not me).

6 second exposure using a 100mm lens. Not sure of the camera.

https://old.reddit.com/r/raleigh/comments/hon6ee/comet_neowi...

> The year after the Great Comet of 1618, for example, Gotthard Arthusius published a pamphlet stating that it was a sign that the Day of Judgment was near.[136] He listed ten pages of comet-related disasters, including "earthquakes, floods, changes in river courses, hail storms, hot and dry weather, poor harvests, epidemics, war and treason and high prices". ... Spectroscopic analysis in 1910 found the toxic gas cyanogen in the tail of Halley's Comet,[137] causing panicked buying of gas masks and quack "anti-comet pills" and "anti-comet umbrellas" by the public.[138]

This online skychart has useful info on when & where to look: https://theskylive.com/planetarium?objects=c2020f3

I know this is completely off topic, but seeing these pictures reminds me of one of my favorite movies Your Name (2016). If anyone has a spare 107 minutes in quarantine, I would highly recommend watching it, or at least adding it to your "queue."

https://myanimelist.net/anime/32281/Kimi_no_Na_wa

No equipment or knowledge is necessary to see this; it's very obvious in the pre-dawn sky and took me about 5 seconds to spot. However, the tail is not that bright, so if you want to see detail then binoculars are recommended.

I live in the mountains of Central Arizona. I was able to see the comet a little while ago. It was pure luck: I went out front and with the setting sun the light was just right to see a tiny white point with a tiny line coming out of it. I ran inside and grabbed the good binoculars my son in law gave me for Christmas, and for just about 1 minute it was beautifully visible/good detail with the binoculars. Then the light changed and it was gone from view.

I think I missed seeing the last comet.

"Astronomy Picture of the Day" has a picture from the ISS: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200710.html

(There's a beautiful 10-minute video from the ISS apparently based on time-lapse photos from eol.jsc.nasa.gov on July 5th, but I don't want to link it directly.)

Woke up early to see if I can spot the comet..but couldn’t. I was able to see Venus and Mars tho’ ..and our Moon. Earlier last week ..at night, I saw Saturn and Jupiter and three moons.

It’s very thrilling! Hope to catch the comet and maybe get some photos. This can be viewed with the naked eye..so fingers crossed for the timing.

Sometimes I wish I didn't live in the middle of a large city. Light pollution blocks most celestial objects.

I thought so too until a friend showed me his small telescope on his apartment building right downtown. And we could see Saturn's rings clearly! I would never have guessed it could be done in the middle of a major city.

It is always a delight to see Saturn with the rings..every single time, it makes me gasp!

A small spotting scope is sufficient to catch saturn and even Jupiter..Altho you can’t really see the bands on Jupiter.

Of course a telescope will give you a much better image but with a - very - steady hand and a good pair of binoculars you can actually see them.

I've found that the main challenge so far hasn't been the light pollution, but that the comet hugs the horizon so closely at about 45 degrees NE in the early morning hours. In the big city I live in, it means that there's often a surprisingly tall building obstructing exactly that view, even at a few elevated city parks I live close to.

The weather forecast for the next week is rain every day, so I might also be out of luck...

Anyone else concerned that a comet this big and this close to earth was only discovered on March 27?

IMO, I think this is evidence we’ll most likely never have more than a few months notice of something hurtling towards us regardless even if its going to destroy life on earth.

A few months isn’t much time.

Close? As in 0.69AU, more than half the distance to the Sun?

However, it's true that these objects that spend most of their long orbits outside of Neptune's orbit are going to be hard to detect until they enter the near solar system.

Luckily, most of these objects are also inclined well away from the ecliptic, and so their probability of an interaction is low. The closest this object could ever get to Earth on its orbit is 0.36AU.

Of course. There is not nearly as much funding into watching for these as there needs to be. Moving them off course requires knowing far in advance. I would be more concerned about Apophis [1] for known objects. It's orbit may be tugged on by earth on the next pass, increasing chances of impact 2 passes from now. Each pass is only 7 years apart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

Wow. I hadn’t even heard of this comet and I go to the linked story the photo is from the town I live in.

Day of the Triffids?

>>It will be about 7,000 years before the comet returns, "so I wouldn't suggest waiting for the next pass," said the telescope's deputy principal investigator Joe Masiero of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Couldn't make it past this pessimistic comment ;)

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