Posted on 07/18/2020 9:30:28 PM PDT by MtnClimber
(Comet Week continues) Explanation: If you can see the stars of the Big Dipper, you can find comet NEOWISE in your evening sky tonight. After sunset look for the naked-eye comet below the bowl of the famous celestial kitchen utensil of the north and above your northwestern horizon. You're looking for a fuzzy 'star' with a tail, though probably not so long a tail as in this clear sky snapshot taken from Los Padres National Forest in California on the evening of July 16. Recent photographs of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) often show this comet's broad dust tail and fainter but separate ion tail extending farther than the eye can follow. Skygazers around the world have been delighted to find NEOWISE, surprise visitor from the outer Solar System.
(Excerpt) Read more at apod.nasa.gov ...
Saw it for the first time tonight! Used the big dipper just as in the photo. It was a little higher above the horizon. This is the first night it has not been overcast in a week.
It’s getting dimmer, but still there once your eyes adjust to the darkness. Binoculars recommended...
Great stuff if you live in a high latitude.
Again a pisspoor piece of writing. When is “after sunset” across the country? The Big Dipper is oriented towards the North on the East Coast about 9:00 PM onward but there is no comet so far. We need to know if it can be seen earlier in each time zone and how high above the horizon using the old extended arm to a 45 degree (half way towards the top of the sky at 90 degrees arc, and then how far below 45 degrees we should look).
I saw the comet with binoculars last night. Used the lower left corner star of the Big Dipper as the reference point and slowly descended to the horizon until I found it. Of course with light pollution not as spectacular as the photos being posted online.
I’m still batting zero. Tried again last night, 20 miles to drive, too cloudy to see it. Did get a couple of cool sunset shots...
*APOD ping*
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