![]() For the best possible view, use binoculars. You can see the comet with your naked eye. It’s located just above the horizon under the “Big Dipper.’’ Start looking for the comet about an hour after sunset in the northwest sky. Clicking on the comet’s name will display information regarding its visibility based on the. It’s a long-period comet that enters the inner solar system only once every 6,800 years or so, scientists say. Skywatchers will be able to spot comet NEOWISE using a helpful astronomy mobile app, SkySafari 6. Seeing a tail that long doesn’t happen very often, says Hripcsak. Each night after today, it will be receding from the sun and dimming slightly.Ĭomet NEOWISE is Earth’s most spectacular comet since 2007 and is now observable low in the northern night sky all night long. The Neowise tail is huge it covers as much sky as if you were to place 12 full moons side by side. ![]() Tonight, Wednesday, July 22, the comet will be at its closest to Earth (at 64 million miles. To see a photo of the comet NEOWISE taken by local resident Bob McBroom go to There have only been two other comets visible to the naked eye in the last 23 years - the Hale-Bopp comet in 1997 and the Comet McNaught in 2007. When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets. Thanks to its brush with the sun, NEOWISE has brightened to a level equivalent to the stars in the Big Dippermaking it one of the few comets of the 21st century that’s visible to the unaided eye. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. Scientists say comets are “cosmic snowballs’’ of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the sun. The Comet NEOWISE has been dazzling sky-watchers in the northern hemisphere, and should continue to be visible through early August, it has been reported.
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