Comet NEOWISE that won’t be back for 6800 years is visible in the evening sky now in the Northern Hemisphere

By India Parent Magazine

If you spot Comet NEOWISE, let us know! Send images and comments to info@indiaparentmagazine.org to share your pictures and views!

Have you seen Comet NEOWISE in the sky? According to the NASA, you can see it if you are in the Northern Hemisphere.

Countries that fall under the northern hemisphere are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States.

“Visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system, it made its once-in-our-lifetimes close approach to the Sun on July 3, 2020 and will cross outside Earth’s orbit on its way back to the outer parts of the solar system by mid-August,” according to the spokesperson of NASA, Joe Masiero.

You can watch video here where NASA experts tell you more about this comet and how you can spot it before it’s gone.

There are a few more comet-observing tips to keep in mind, according to Masiero.

First, you're going to want to try and get away from city lights and set up in a location with a clear, unobstructed view of the northwest horizon.

Then, find out what time your local sunset is. You'll want to wait until 45 minutes after sunset before hunting the comet, advises space.com.

"What you want to do is go out right around the time that the first stars start to show up. You're not going to be able to see it before that," Masiero said. "It's probably about as bright as some of the stars in the Big Dipper."

To the unaided eye, Comet NEOWISE will look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail, according to a NASA guide. (www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise) But binoculars or a small telescope offer a much better view.

Officially known as C/2020 F3, Comet NEOWISE was first discovered in March by the infrared-optimized NEOWISE spacecraft (the name is short for Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Space Explorer). Since then, the comet has been spotted by several space telescopes and observatories, astronauts on the International Space Station.