One of the rarest and brightest, Comet Neowise, officially known as C/2020F3, can be seen in the sky till July-end in India as it is closer to the earth these days. The Neowise, once it disappears, will be visible only after 6,800 years.
The Nehru Science Centre in its ‘Lockdown Lecture’ series organised ‘Comet NEOWISE – A Primer’ to discuss the exploration aspects related to comets.
Director, Nehru Planetarium, Dr N Ratnashree, explained comets, their position in the sky and ways to observe it through a telescope, DSLR camera or even the naked eye.
Comet is an icy small body which consists mostly of rocky materials, dust and ice. As they come closer to the sun there is evaporation of volatile contents from these comets. When they start melting, the particles start glowing by the reflected sunlight. This makes the 'dust tail' of Comets.
For those keen to capture the image, Dr. Ratnashree said, “Point your camera towards the North West direction and try to take a long exposure shot. Try clicking regular photographs on different days at the same time with the same camera settings to find out the trajectory of the comet in relation to the horizon,” she said.
The comet can be seen in clear sky conditions in areas with lesser light pollution and will be perfectly visible when the sky is dark, she added.