Comet gives Earth a light show - 10th August 2020

A spectacular comet has been seen streaking across the skies throughout July. Comet Neowise has been spotted by stargazers in the UK and around the world as it made its orbit passed the Earth.

The comet was visible to the naked eye, which is unusual. A comet is a snowball of frozen gases, rock, and dust. When a comet passes the sun, it warms and releases gas in the form of a ‘tail’.

The comet was closest to the Earth on 23rd July but was still an incredible distance away - 103 million kilometres - which is 400 times further away than the Moon. It appeared as a blurry spot low on the horizon with its wispy tail pointing straight up, easily distinguishable from planets that appear more like pinpricks of light.

Astronauts on the International Space Station also spotted the comet and described it as the brightest one in recent years, with the tail clearly visible from the space station.

Comet Neowise is named after NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which discovered it in March of 2020. The comet is roughly 5 km across, which is about average size.

The interplanetary iceberg was visible throughout July in the northern hemisphere, moving in a westerly direction across the sky. It then faded out of sight as it began its long journey back to the outer solar system. Neowise’s narrow elliptical orbit means it will not return to the inner solar system for another 6,800 years.