Grade 7-9

Any questions? ReachSTEM out At Home [email protected] NEOWISE Hunt

Campers will learn about the NEOWISE comet that is currently visible in North America, and find out how they can spot it in the night sky for themselves!

Keywords & Background Information

Comet: an object in space consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun. ● Basically, a comet is like a snowball in space that’s made of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbits the sun. ● When a comet gets close to the sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head that is actually larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the sun for millions of kilometers. ● usually have much more elongated orbits around the sun than planets do. ● There are 3 653 known comets!

NEOWISE (also called C/2020 F3) is a comet that is currently visible in North America (summer 2020). ● NEOWISE was discovered on March 27th, 2020. ● NEOWISE stands for Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. It was discovered by NASA’s WISE telescope. ● By July 2020, it was visible with the in North America. This is the brightest comet the northern hemisphere has seen since 1997. ● In the northern hemisphere, NEOWISE can be seen on the northwestern horizon, below the . ● NEOWISE won’t be seen again from Earth for 6800 years! ● NEOWISE is approximately 5 km in diameter, and is travelling at about 231 000 km/h! This is about twice as fast as the Earth’s speed around the sun. NEOWISE Comet Hunt Right now is a very special time in the northern hemisphere, because we can actually see comet NEOWISE with the naked eye right now! This is very unusual, and it’s been over 20 years since we have seen a comet this bright. This activity is going to give you some tips and tricks for spotting NEOWISE on your own. Most importantly, you will need to find a location that is away from city lights with a clear view of the sky. While this comet is visible to the naked eye, it is much easier to see in areas without lots of bright lights. The best time to see the comet is just after sunset. Look in the northwestern part of the sky, just below the Big Dipper. Below is a photo showing where the comet will be on different days in July.

If you have access to them, try to bring binoculars or a small telescope. These aren’t absolutely necessary, but they will make it much easier to see the comet. Also, you will be able to see the comet’s double tail with these instruments which is not visible to the naked eye! #SVatHome

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