Comet NEOWISE has been putting on a great show for early risers this week. In case you haven’t seen some of the recent photographs from local astrophotographers, take a look at these:
A slightly higher quality of the comet-rise animation that gets all muddied uploading to Twitter.
Originally tweeted by Christopher Becke (@BeckePhysics) on July 11, 2020.
If you get a picture of the Comet, send it in! Here are the tips on how to see this comet:
The thing I’m most excited about is that this comet is still getting closer to Earth. It will be at its closest point on July 22nd. After then it will begin to dim rapidly. Another thing, this comet will become visible in the evening sky starting on July 14th through the 22nd. Predictions say that it will be visible about 80-90 minutes after sunset in the NW sky. The next time this comet will appear in our sky will be in more than 6,000 years.
Rocket Launch This Week!
NASA Wallops Flight Facility will be launching a rocket on the morning of Wednesday July 15th as early as 9 AM
In a previous video, I went over some of the basics of the Minotaur IV rocket and some tips on how you can see this launch.
If the weather is fair, it should be easy to see the rocket from Wallops if you are close to the pad. From Hampton Roads, the Southside for example, it might be difficult.
Enjoy the eventful week of looking up!
Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson