Comet NEOWISE

space · comets · astronomy · cosmic ice

Found by WISE telescope. Comet NEOWISE was discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers using the NEOWISE mission of the WISE space telescope, which hunts for objects in space using infrared vision.

Icy wanderer from space. NEOWISE is a long-period comet, which means it takes an extremely long time to orbit the Sun, following a special path called a near-parabolic orbit.

Incredibly far away at first. When discovered, the comet was about 2.0 AU away from the Sun and 1.7 AU away from Earth. One AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun, so NEOWISE started very far out in space.

Bright enough to see. Unlike most comets, NEOWISE became bright enough for people with binoculars or even naked eyes to spot in the night sky, making it one of the most exciting discoveries for skywatchers in recent years.