How To Find Comet NEOWISE While You’re Outside For The Perseid Meteor Shower This Week

This is Reflection Lake at Mt Baker. The comet Neowise can be seen clearly both in the sky and in … [+] the calm waters of Reflection Lake.

This week it’s the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, that time of the year when a lot of stargazers in the northern hemisphere get outside hoping for “shooting stars.”

In 2020 the Perseids peak on the nights of Tuesday, August 11 into Wednesday, August 12, and Wednesday, August 12 into Thursday, August 13.

The best time to see “shooting stars” is between midnight and dawn, though with a bright Moon rising around midnight this week it’s a good idea to start looking right after dark.

Not only is the pre-midnight hour perfect for spotting low-hanging, long-lasting “earthgrazing” shooting stars above the eastern and western horizons, but above the latter will be Comet NEOWISE.

The icy visitor from the outer Solar System is, from a visual point of view, well past its best. In fact, this is probably your last chance.

As it returns to from whence it came, having already rounded the Sun, Comet NEOWISE is now fading fast, but if you do have a pair of binoculars it is still possible to see it with your own eyes.

Here are some sky-charts and tips for seeing Comet NEOWISE while you wait for “shooting stars.”

Look west as soon as it’s properly dark and you may have a chance of seeing Comet NEOWISE. You will need a pair of binoculars and you will need a clear view to the western horizon. A dark sky away from urban light pollution will also help.

To find the comet, first locate the Big Dipper/Plough/Saucepan in the northwestern sky. Then follow the arc of its handle of four bright stars down to the western horizon. About halfway you’ll come across a bright reddish star, Arcturus, in the constellation of Boötes. Comet NEOWISE is between Arcturus and the western horizon.

To see it, put your binoculars on Arcturus and slowly come down to the horizon, then up again if you fail to spot it first time. Be patient—it should be bright enough to see. Once you’ve got it, look slightly away from it to really appreciate it brightness, and its tail streaming upwards. This “averted vision” technique works because the human eye’s peripheral vision is the most sensitive to brightness.

It’s going shift further to the south night-by-night, but this week the comet isn’t going to move much.

Once you’ve found the comet, have a good, long look because you won’t be seeing it again in your lifetime.

However, once admired, put those binoculars away—by far the best way to see “shooting stars” is to give yourself a big, unobstructed view of the night sky.

I’m an experienced science, technology and travel journalist interested in space exploration, moon-gazing, exploring the night sky, solar and lunar eclipses,

I’m an experienced science, technology and travel journalist interested in space exploration, moon-gazing, exploring the night sky, solar and lunar eclipses, astro-travel, wildlife conservation and nature. I’m the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and the author of « A Stargazing Program for Beginners: A Pocket Field Guide » (Springer, 2015), as well as many eclipse-chasing guides.

SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com