{"id":20231,"date":"2020-07-13T07:55:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T11:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=20231"},"modified":"2020-07-13T20:57:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T00:57:52","slug":"here-are-some-excellent-instructions-for-watching-comet-neowise-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=20231","title":{"rendered":"Here are some excellent instructions for watching Comet Neowise from home."},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Watch the NEOWISE Comet From Home<\/h1>\n

Tegan Jones
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The NEOWISE comet is currently visible from Earth<\/a>, if you\u2019re lucky enough to be able to catch it. Of course, not everyone lives in optimal viewing locations, or the right hemisphere. But that doesn\u2019t mean you have to miss out. You can take a look at the comet from the comfort of your own browser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is the NEOWISE comet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NEOWISE comet, also known as Comet C\/2020 F3 NEOWISE, was discovered on March 27, 2020.\u00a0 it\u2019s named after the NASA mission that made the discovery \u2014 the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).<\/p>\n

NEOWISE isn\u2019t anything to be worried about. In fact, it offers humans a rare chance to actually see a comet with the naked eye. NEOWISE is reportedly on a path around the sun that takes a casual 7,000 years. So get it in your eye holes when you still have the chance.<\/p>\n

NEOWISE will be closest to the Earth around July 23, where it will be roughly 103 million kilometres away.<\/p>\n

Naked-eye comets are incredibly rare. In fact, it will be one of the few this century. So this isn\u2019t something you want to miss. And you don\u2019t have to, especially if you want to utilise your web browser.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0The Sky Live<\/a>, the NEOWISE comet is visible to the naked eye under dark skies in the Northern Hemisphere. However, if you live in a light polluted area you may need binoculars to see it. And if its not visible in your area at all, you might want to rely on technology.<\/p>\n

You can have a cheeky look at the NEOWISE comet right now by using\u00a0Stellarium<\/a>. This is an planetarium that runs on your computer and supports Windows, Mac and Linus. There is also a web version and an app if you\u2019d prefer.<\/p>\n

Stellarium will ask for a location so you can view constellations and comets are visible in your area. But you can also change your location in order to see the night sky, and fun things appearing in it, in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

This includes the NEOWISE comet, but there\u2019s just one caveat. Because it\u2019s a relatively new discovery you\u2019ll need to manually add it to Stellarium. Here\u2019s how you do it:<\/p>\n