Bright Comet

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Jay Hirsh
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Bright Comet

Comet NEOWISE is a recent comet that promises to be the brightest in 25 years.
It's been in the early morning sky, but will transition to evening perhaps even today, July 11th.
Projected maximum brightness is ~July 23rd unless it breaks up before then, appearing below the Big Dipper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2020_F3_(NEOWISE)
https://theskylive.com/c2020f3-info
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/10/21318478/nasa-f3-comet-neowise-see-wa...

I took photos of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 with a chilled CCD 640x480 resolution video camera borrowed from my lab.
It's quite amazing how photo hardware & software have advanced since then.

Go shoot this comet before it's gone!

Jay

Bill Shaw
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I've been trying to shoot it all week before sunrise but the early morning skies on the eastern horizon have been too cloudy! Looking forward to some evening opportunities.

I also shot Comet-Hale Bopp but with a Minolta XE 7 film camera!

Bill Shaw
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Finally, got my first view and pictures of Comet NEOWISE last night, 7/14/2020.  I'ts hard to see without binoculars or time exposure camera.

  • Time 10:09 PM
  • 2.0 sec. at f/2.8 ISO 1600, 190 mm

The Comet will continue to get higher in the NW sky each evening and will be closest to Earth on July 23.

It won't be back for another 6,800 years so catch it while you can!

 

Anton Largiader
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Nice, Bill. We went out and looked for it around 9:45, with our only guidance being "about three fists below the Big Dipper and maybe a bit to the right" and there were clouds there. Can you give better directions than we got?

Bill Shaw
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That's about right. Between the bowl of the Big Dipper and the horizon. Keep in mind you should have binoculars to help see it for now. Time exposure with camera really helps. On July 23rd it will make it's closest approach to Earth AND will be higher in the sky. The clouds on the horizon have been a continuing problem. I started a couple weeks ago in early morning with no luck seeing because of clouds! As we get further along in July it will be higher in the sky and maybe above horizon clouds.

Some maps and pictures here:
https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise