After a week of frantic searching, glorious but impeding sunsets, and scouring every weather and atmospheric resource imaginable, the conditions were right and I finally was able to see Comet NEOWISE in the skies above Everglades National Park. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like this. Seeing a natural phenomenon that only occurs once every 6800 years and setting eyes on an…
This Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) now sweeps through our fair planet’s northern skies. Its long tails stretch across this deep skyview from Suchy Vrch, Czech Republic. Recorded on the night of July 13/14, the composite of untracked foreground and tracked and filtered sky exposures teases out details in the comet’s tail not visible to the unaided eye. Faint structures extend to the top of the frame, over 20 degrees from the comet’s bright coma. Pushed out by the pressure of sunlight itself, the broad curve of the comet’s yellowish dust tail is easy to see by eye. But the fainter, more bluish tail is separate from the reflective comet dust. The fainter tail is an ion tail, formed as ions from the cometary coma are dragged outward by magnetic fields in the solar wind and fluoresce in the sunlight. Outbound NEOWISE is climbing higher in northern evening skies, coming closest to Earth on July 23rd.
Wanted to show a quick varnishing process video to the tune of Bach’s Goldenberg Variation no. 11. I decided to title this painting “Breaking Dawn With Neowise”. It can be difficult to come up with titles for my paintings, what would you name my painting? . . . Acrylic on 8x10” wood panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #acrylicpainting #nightsky #art #acrylicpaintings #acrylicart #acrylicartwork #spaceart #citypainting #neowise #artistoninsta #cloudart #nightpainting #artvideo #artgalleries #contemporaryart #artwork #painting #pinturas #pinturaacrilica #artiststudio #artcollecting #comet #varnish #oilpainting #landscapeart #blueridgemountains #landscapepainting https://www.instagram.com/p/CC6uDPaHsYA/?igshid=1uhxdxd3gluw7
I’ve been waking up early to see Neowise, the newly discovered comet! I took a few pictures and was inspired by it. So I decided it would be a perfect subject to paint on one of my night sky paintings. Have you been able to see the comet, Neowise? . . Acrylic on 8x10” wood panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #acrylicpainting #nightsky #art #acrylicpaintings #acrylicart #acrylicartwork #spaceart #citypainting #neowise #artistoninsta #cloudart #nightpainting #artvideo #artgalleries #contemporaryart #artwork #painting #pinturas #pinturaacrilica #artiststudio #artcollecting #stormclouds #goldenpaints #oilpainting #landscapeart #blueridgemountains #landscapepainting https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwMroGndIa/?igshid=14k1fyyhmp6o8
The tails of Comet NEOWISE!! Comet’s usually have 2 tails that always point away from the Sun.
Here, NEOWISE’s blue ion tail on the left points directly away from the Sun and is pushed out by the flowing and charged solar wind. Structure in the ion tail comes from different rates of expelled blue-glowing ions from the comet’s nucleus, as well as the always changing structure of our Sun’s wind.
The other tail, the dust tail, is pushed out by sunlight, but curves towards its orbital path as heavier dust particles are better able to resist this light pressure. Comet NEOWISE’s (Comet C/2020 F3) impressive dust-tail striations are not fully understood, as yet, but likely related to rotating streams of sun-reflecting grit liberated by melting ice on its 5-kilometer wide nucleus. Image Credit & Copyright: Zixuan Lin (Beijing Normal U.)
We got up really early to try and see Neowise yesterday night. We did not see the comet, since it was down behind the forest. What we did get though was a phenomenal dawn and moonrise…
Observers all over the world are hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE before it speeds away into the depths of space, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years.
For those that are, or will be, tracking Comet NEOWISE there will be a few particularly interesting observing opportunities this week.
Over the coming days it will become increasingly visible shortly after sunset in the northwest sky.
The object is best viewed using binoculars or a small telescope, but if conditions are optimal, you may be able to see it with the naked eye. If you’re looking in the sky without the help of observation tools, Comet NEOWISE will likely look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail. Using binoculars will give viewers a good look at the fuzzy comet and its long, streaky tail.
Here’s what to do:
Find a spot away from city lights with an unobstructed view of the sky
Just after sunset, look below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky
Each night, the comet will continue rising increasingly higher above the northwestern horizon.
There will be a special bonus for viewers observing comet NEOWISE from the northeast United States near Washington, DC. For several evenings, there will be a brief conjunction as the International Space Station will appear to fly near the comet in the northeast sky. Approximate times and locations of the conjunctions are listed below (the exact time of the conjunction and viewing direction will vary slightly based on where you are in the Washington, DC area):
July 17 : ~10:56 p.m. EDT = NEOWISE elevation: ~08° Space Station elevation: ~14°
July 18 : ~10:08 p.m. EDT = NEOWISE elevation: ~13° Space Station elevation: ~18°
July 19 : ~10:57 p.m. EDT = NEOWISE elevation: ~10° Space Station elevation: ~08°
July 20 : ~10:09 p.m. EDT = NEOWISE elevation: ~17° Space Station elevation: ~07°
It will be a late waning Moon, with the New Moon on July 20, so the viewing conditions should be good as long as the weather cooperates.
Comet NEOWISE is about 3 miles across and covered in soot left over from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago - a typical comet.
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles.
