NIGHT SKY’S WONDER
AN INTERSTELLAR tourist blazing a trail above the Far North has been described as one of the “top five comets of all time” and you don’t even need a telescope to see it.
The NEOWISE, or C/ 2020 F3 (NEOWISE), was discovered by NASA in March, thanks to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope.
Visible this month to astronomers in the northern hemisphere, the celestial body is now streaking a path over the Far North.
Amateur astronomer, birdwatcher and professional translator Hidetoshi Kudo, 50, snapped a photo of the comet over Yorkeys Knob.
“I used an SLR camera and an EQ mount, which tracks movement of stars,” Mr Kudo said. “Yorkeys Knob is a great place to see it because it has a view of the northwest sky; I saw it between the land and Double Island, about 10 degrees from the ocean. The best position is near the boat ramp.”
An EQ mount, or an equatorial mount, is not essential for stargazers, Mr Kudo said.
A tripod-mounted SLR camera or binoculars should do the trick for the sharp-eyed.
“If you expose for 20 seconds, you could probably photograph the tail of the comet,” he said.
Ian Maclean of Night Sky Secrets said the key to spotting NEOWISE was to get away from the mountains.
“It is a race against time,” Mr Maclean said.
“It is really high in the sky and it will get fainter.
“It has a really long tail. As soon as it will be visible, it can be seen with the naked eye.”
NEOWISE won’t return in our lifetimes. Because of its long, elliptical orbit, NASA has forecast the comet will take 6800 years to cruise by Earth again. The last comet to be visible so brightly from Earth was Hale Bopp in 1997, which was 1000 times brighter than Halley’s Comet.
“We are well placed to see NEOWISE in north Queensland,” Mr Maclean said.
“A lot of seasoned comet spotters rate it as in the top five comets of all time.”
He said the best day to glimpse NEOWISE on its outward bound journey with the naked eye would be Monday.