An extremely rare comet is expected to be visible from around the world this month, but Alaskans will be unlikely to catch a glimpse of it because of how bright the night sky is in the summer.
Comet Neowise was discovered in March by NASA’s infrared space satellite. It passed by the sun July 3 and will pass outside Earth’s orbit before it returns to the outer reaches of the solar system by mid-August, according to NASA.
The comet will be closest to Earth on July 22, when it will pass by the planet’s orbit from about 64 million miles away, according to NASA. The comet has been spotted in the northern hemisphere this week and NASA said some people have been able to see it with the naked eye, although the tail is more visible through binoculars or a telescope.
It’s unclear if the comet will remain visible for long — NASA noted that comets are unpredictable. The bright skies in Alaska, however, will likely diminish any view of it.
Skies in Southcentral Alaska remain relatively bright still, with the sun setting at 11:22 p.m. and rising again at 4:48 a.m. Most of the night is spent in civil twilight, which National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Ottenweller described as being “bright enough to read a newspaper.” There’s a small window of nautical twilight from about 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., which is the time the sky will get the darkest, but Ottenweller said it still won’t be dark enough to see much.
“You’re still going to have a narrow window of nautical twilight and that is just not great for seeing astronomical features,” Ottenweller said.
The region won’t return to “astronomical darkness” until Aug. 5, Ottenweller said. Astronomical darkness is when the sky becomes truly dark and it’s easier to see stars.
Comets are “frozen leftovers” from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ices. The close pass by the sun caused the comet’s outer layers to sizzle, erupting gas and dust from the icy surface and forming a large debris tail, NASA said. The Neowise comet is estimated to be about 3 miles across.
It takes roughly 6,800 years for the comet to make one lap around its long orbit, so it won’t visit the inner solar system again for thousands of years, according to NASA.
The Comet NEOWISE or C/2020 F3 is seen above Salgotarjan, Hungary, early Friday, July 10, 2020. It passed closest to the Sun on July 3 and its closest approach to the Earth will occur on July 23. (Peter Komka/MTI via AP)
In this image released by NASA, Comet Neowise, left, is seen in the eastern horizon above Earth in this image taken from the International Space Station on Sunday, July 5, 2020. (NASA via AP)
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