C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)The Great Comet of 2020
Comet NEOWISE
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was discovered by NASA's NEOWISE infrared space telescope in March 2020 and became the brightest comet visible from the northern hemisphere since Hale-Bopp in 1997. After reaching perihelion on July 3, 2020 (0.29 AU from the Sun), it emerged near magnitude 0.5-1 and remained an easy naked-eye spectacle throughout July, making its closest approach to Earth (0.69 AU) on July 23. Its passage through the planetary region stretched its orbital period from about 4,500 years to roughly 6,800 years, so it will not return until around the year 8800.
- Designation
- C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
- Type
- Long-period
- Orbital period
- ~6,800 years (long-period)
- Discovery
- Discovered March 27, 2020 by NASA's NEOWISE mission (the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope)
