Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 was discovered on 27 March 2020 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission.  As with most comets, it likely originated from the (inner) Oort Cloud, a theoretical spherical cloud of predominantly icy solid objects that surround the Solar System.  This comet has highly elongated elliptical orbit of 6,765 years and is not expected to return to the inner solar system until June 8786.

 

Based on its infrared signature, the nucleus is about 5 km (3 mi) across and covered with sooty, dark particles.  According to NASA, most comets are made of about half water and half dust.  On 13 July, the Planetary Science Institute confirmed that the comets tail was composed of sodium and the British Astronomical Association affirmed that a green coma was clearly visible.

 

The orbital path of NEOWISE C/2020 F3 took it around the sun during the first week in July when its closest approach was on 3 July 2020, passing about 43 million km (26.7 million mi), which is slightly closer than the average distance Mercury is to the sun.  At its fastest, the comet was travelling about 65 kilometres per second (40 miles per second), which is about twice as fast as the earth moves around the sun.

 

Between 10-15 July, the comet became visible to observers on the earth in the early morning, about 80 minutes before sunrise and was located about 10 degrees above the northeast horizon.  With each passing morning, the comet appeared a degree or two closer to the horizon until its altitude became too low to see in the pre-sunrise sky.  From 12 July onwards, the comet was visible to observers in both the early morning and evening sky.  Each following evening after sunset, the comet increased its height above the horizon by approximately 2 degrees.  On 14 July, the comet was located approximately 5 degrees above the horizon and about 345 degrees from north in the north-northwest.  It was located near the constellation Ursa Major and was directly below the asterism that forms the Plough or Big Dipper.

 

The comet was at its closest to the Earth on 22-23 July 2020 when it was approximately 103 million km (64 million mi) away.  It was visible to observers approximately 20-25 degrees above the horizon and about 315-320 degrees from north in the northwest.

 

After 23 July, the comet was moving away from the sun and the earth.  It quickly faded from view and during the first week in August, it was so dim and distant, it had essentially disappeared from observers view.  On 8 August, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured some amazing images of the comet.

 

About This Photograph

The above photograph was taken on 23 July which was the third and final opportunity I had to photograph Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3.  Having chosen a different location each night I photographed the comet, I set up my camera and gear shortly after sunset as I wanted to take the opportunity to photograph the wind turbines during early twilight.  Even though I could not actually see the comet, my camera did capture it in some of the photographs.  After twilight, when darkness took over and I could finally see the comet, to the naked eye, it appeared as a barely visible faint smudge compared to the pinpoint stars.  The comet was located approximately 310° (northwest) and 25° above the horizon.  I took a series of photographs with my 200-500 mm lens before switching to my 24-70 mm lens.  After 2.5 hours, by 23:00, the comet had become increasingly difficult to see, so I took my last few photographs and called it a night.