Want to see a comet? Comet NEOWISE is now visible during the early morning hours for a brief period of time. With binoculars or a telescope look NE low to the horizon between about 4:45am and 5am.Comet NEOWISE will be visible over the next few weeks here in the panhandle. The comet was discovered earlier this year on March, 27, 2020. The comet is named after the space observatory that actually discovered it… Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The comet is about 26 million miles way from us and is about 3 miles across. It is estimated that it formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago!
Enough with the stats… you want to see it, don’t you? Starting on July 16th it should be far enough above the horizon in the northeast right after sunset (8:30pm) to be visible. It will continue to get higher in the evening sky but will fade quickly. After the 24th you will probably need a telescope to see it. It will climb a little bit higher in the sky each day until it disappears next month. It won’t make a return appearance for about 7,000 years. If you’re in an area with little or no light pollution, you should be able to see it with the naked eye. Otherwise, you’ll need binoculars to spot the long tail, according to NASA. And, in case you were wondering, the comet doesn’t pose any danger to the planet and will pass by harmlessly.
