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July 2020

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How and where and when to see Comet NEOWISE , with helpful links :-)
by Jane Houston Jones 18 Jul '20

18 Jul '20

Hi everyone, now that Comet NEOWISE is in our evening sky, everyone wants to try to see it, especially from a safe place like their home. The comet, from an urban area, is extremely difficult if not impossible to see with the unaided eye. Start looking about an hour after sunset. Binoculars help once the sky darkens. It's hard to find through a telescope, binoculars are better, unaided eye nearly impossible. So, to set expectations, here are two images I took 2 nights ago from Duarte Sports Park only a mile from our house. Lots of urban lights, but this location put some distance between the viewers and the mountains. These are taken with my cell phone so they will represent a better expectation of what the urban comet hunter will see. It won't look like the images from a dark sky or another part of the world, but it will be your very own view! https://www.dropbox.com/s/qgkyji741rqt5rr/Comet_faint_IMG_20200716_212035.j… https://www.dropbox.com/s/r01t0ugaw8d0vek/Comet_Jane_fave_IMG_20200716_2119… JPL has an excellent easy to understand comet finding chart here :-) Many media charts show other stars in Ursa Major (the nose and the paws of the great bear) but those stars are not easy to see or familiar to many, so kudos for a great chart JPL! https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/4354_sky_chart_sh… To help you figure where to look beneath the familiar dipper, here is my favorite chart: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/measuring-the-sky-by-hand.html . Use your outstretched hand and notice your thumb to pinkie span the familiar Big Dipper asterism as shown on the chart. So, to see the comet you need to look this same distance below the dipper! That's why you have to get away from the mountains! Finally, here are some additional charts that also show the dipper and the comet's path from Earth and Sky https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise and from Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-july-17-25… For those asking where to go to see the comet, look for a place where your NW horizon is not blocked by the mountains. The comet was 12 degrees above the horizon close to an hour after sunset last night. We were able to see it (with difficulty and not naked eye) a block from our home through a notch in the mountains. Use the dipper as your guide, can you see lots of sky below the dipper? Closer to the beach. At some elevation. You get the idea. :-) Let me know of your success, and you have a little more than a week until first quarter moon will brighten the sky more. Good luck! There is almost nothing more exciting that seeing a comet, especially a public friendly, conveniently timed, traveler that won't return for nearly 7,000 years! JPL's What's Up page here :-) https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

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Morning planets and the moon! Plus a comet, maybe
by Jane Houston Jones 11 Jul '20

11 Jul '20

If you haven't been out to see it, the pre-dawn sky has been magnificent with planets lately. Mojo and I had an observing feast Friday morning. Four planets, moon, plus comet NEOWISE at dawn. Mars was big enough to see a polar cap and albedo features through a telescope. Venus is a gorgeous crescent right now. Jupiter had a Ganymede shadow transit -- where a black shadow marched across the planet's disk Friday morning. Jut in binos you can see the Galilean moons orbiting the giant planet. Saturn had open rings and a prominent Cassini division. Even naked eye the view is gorgeous, with the four planets + moon tracing a full-sky ecliptic. Tonight: Mars and Moon near midnight. Saturn and Jupiter shortly after sunset. Mars and Moon near midnight. Venus before dawn. Comet Neowise, if you have an unobstructed northeast sky (which we don't, yet we Caught a tiny glimpse as it clears the foothills Thursday morning. If you have the horizon look NE on the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. Don't worry, hopefully this comet will become an evening object soon. This month's NASA What's Up video has some info about these morning planets: https://youtu.be/cNf6vb4gwEM Hang in there, astro team! Jane and the sidewalk astronomer gang -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

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