Comet Neowise is a new comet that was discovered on March 27th, 2020. It's closest approach to Earth will be on July 22nd 2020 at 64 million miles away.
This photo was taken by Melissa Jones in Fayetteville, Arkansas on the evening of July 13th.
The comet's approach to Earth and the Sun will increase it's period to 6,800 years so it won't be visible again until sometime around the year 8820.
According to NASA this is the brightest Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997.
The best time to view Comet Neowise will be from July 14-19th. You'll want to look northwest just below the Big Dipper after sunset.
"From its infrared signature, we can tell that it is about 5 kilometers [3 miles] across, and by combining the infrared data with visible-light images, we can tell that the comet's nucleus is covered with sooty, dark particles left over from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago," according to a statement released by Joseph Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
While some clouds are possible in the coming days, the ridge of high pressure locally in Oklahoma and Arkansas should provide excellent viewing of this once-in-a-lifetime comet.
-Garrett
