Starting in early July, a new comet showed up in the early morning sky, and it looks like it should remain visible in the evening for the rest of the summer.
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was first discovered on March 27, 2020, as it approached the Sun from below the ecliptic plane. Spotted by NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope, this comet was found to be on a very long journey. It just spent nearly 3,400 years flying in from the outer edges of our solar system to swing around the Sun!
A computer model of the inner solar system shows the path of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Credit: NASA CNEOS
Now having survived that passage, NEOWISE is flying high above the inner planets on its way back to the outer reaches of the solar system.
Ideally located in space to view from Earth’s northern hemisphere, Comet NEOWISE is showing up in the northeastern sky, in the hours just before sunrise.
This long-exposure image of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was captured on the morning of July 5, 2020, by Weather Network meteorologist and astrophotographer Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn (instagram.com/weatherandsky)
The above image is an idealized view of Comet NEOWISE, of course. According to the astrophotographer who captured it, Weather Network meteorologist Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, the photograph is comprised of several 1-minute exposures. These are all stacked on top of one another using imaging software to enhance the comet’s brightness and bring out more of the details of its tail.
According to the Comet Observation Database, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is estimated at being around magnitude 1.2 right now. That is so-called ‘naked eye’ brightness, and brighter than the stars of the Big Dipper or even Comet Halley during its last pass, back in 1986. Be careful, though. A pinpoint source of light at that brightness, such as a planet or a star, is relatively easy to see, even from light-polluted urban areas. Spotting the diffuse coma and tail of a comet at that brightness is harder, though. This is especially true with light pollution and if the comet is set against the backdrop of a twilit sky.
Responding to a comment on Facebook, Lecky Hepburn said that when she was capturing her long-exposure images, the comet was faint and difficult to see with the unaided eye. She had to use a technique astronomers call ‘averted vision’.
If you have ever spotted something out of the corner of your eye in the night sky, but it vanished when you looked directly at it, you have used averted vision.
This picture of Comet NEOWISE, from TWN’s User Generated Content Gallery, was captured from André-J.-Côté Park, in Candiac, QC, on the morning of July 6. Credit: Stephane Pelletier
Basically, this technique takes advantage of the sensitivity of our peripheral vision to spot objects too dim to see directly. Its effectiveness can vary from person to person, and you may need to take some time for your eyes to adapt to the dark to get the maximum effect. Still, looking off to one side, while keeping your attention focused on the comet’s location in the sky, may produce results.
For best viewing, seek out a good rural area to watch from, such as the parking lot of a provincial park. If you have a telescope or binoculars, these will make it easier to see the comet, and using averted vision can still help you to hone in on where it is.
MORNING TO EVENING SHIFT
Although visible in the pre-dawn twilight now, Comet NEOWISE will switch things up a bit in the days and weeks to come.
The location of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) in the pre-dawn sky on July 7, 2020. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
Starting later this week, as the comet continues to swing up over the inner solar system, it will still be visible in the morning. Evening skywatchers, though, should also see it rise above the northwestern horizon after the Sun has gone down.
Comet NEOWISE to the north-northwest in the evening sky, around 10:45 p.m. local time. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
As an evening comet, NEOWISE should be easier to see against the backdrop of the darker sky. Its brightness will still diminish steadily in the next few weeks, however.
Later this month, and into August and September, the comet will leave the morning behind altogether, and remain visible only during the evening, tracking farther into the western sky, night by night.
Comet NEOWISE in the western sky, on the night of July 31, 2020. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
At the same time, its brightness will continue to dim as it moves farther away. So, a telescope or binoculars are still the best way to view NEOWISE throughout the season.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
