Discussion: Look for Comet Neowise

Greg Walker took some great pics of a bright new comet that is visible before dawn right now. Check out this thread in his log. You guys are well placed to see it with your low NE horizon over the water. Give it a look Sun or Mon morning 1-2 hrs before sunrise. It changes over to an evening object by July 14/15 and gets higher, but fainter in the NW.

The starlink-9 launch attempt this morning was just scrubbed for some technical reason. They seem to be having trouble with this booster or the payload.

For anyone getting up early to see the comet Sunday morning, there will be a pass of the ISS at 3:45 AM just above the comet in the NE. It was very bright this morning despite the low elevation. It will be obvious. Here's the pass sky chart for Salem. Will go right by the star Capella, and also Venus/Aldebaran in Taurus.

There's another pass 90 mins later at 5:20 AM, but heavens-above thinks the sky will be too bright in Salem and Baltimore, but OK for D.C. My guess is it will be visible, so be on the lookout for it. It will be a little higher in the sky than the 3:45 pass, but generally the same NW to E, passing near Venus which should also still be visible.

Getting up before I have to is not a thing I can do right now Eddie :)

Comet is visible in the evening now, and weather looks good tonight (Sat, Jul 18). There's also an ISS pass tonight that will go right through the comet's tail just after 10 PM EDT (10:07 for Boston). I marked tonight's approximate comet location and ISS path on one of Greg Walker's great comet photos from Wed night:

Tonght's comet and ISS location marked with red star/green line

This is for Truckee, but will be about the same for Boston/NE, with the ISS pass just a little higher. Comet is in the NW now, directly below the cup of the big dipper. The comet has been tough to see naked-eye from the burbs. A pair of binoculars is helpful. The Great Bear will be feasting on the comet's tail tonight!