It's time to look up to the sky! If summer is particularly favorable for stargazing, it is a comet that can be observed right now. Her name ? Comet C / 2020 F3 Neowise, named after the telescope it discovered. It will be visible every day of July, for almost 30 minutes.
Get up very early to see it
The best time to discover what looks like a big red-orange star, with a long train of smoke, is around 4:30 a.m.
The ideal for a better observation in the French sky is a clear view towards the North-East. But don't panic for those who sleep late, it will be possible, from July 14, to see the comet between midnight and 1 a.m. It will be necessary to think of changing point of view on the other hand: towards the North-West, from next week.
More delicate weather conditions this morning in the Cévennes (cirrus and fog), but the comet NEOWISE was clearly visible to the naked eye, naturally a little less brilliant than in this image taken with a 135 mm @ 2 telephoto lens (exposure of 5 dry at ISO 640). pic.twitter.com/y4XvQ3cdhs
- Guillaume Cannat (@GuillaumeCannat) July 6, 2020>> Find your major evening newspaper in replay and podcast here
A show that you only see "every five or ten years"
"Comets pass every month. But most of them are very small or far from the Sun, or do not emit much gas or dust", explains Nicolas Bivert, astrophysicist, specialized in the study of comets. "It passed very close to the Sun, probably the nucleus is relatively large and it emits a very large amount of gas and dust, which is what makes it very bright."
"A comet as bright as that, we see it every five or ten years. For a comet as beautiful as this one, we must probably go back to comet Hale-Bopp in 1997, more than 20 years ago", rejoices the specialist. To not miss any crumbs from this show, preferably bring a pair of binoculars and out of the cities, to avoid light pollution. Please note, if you miss your chance, it will have to wait 6,000 or even 7,000 years for its next visit.
Watch the comet NASA video from space: