Comet NEOWISE Sighted!

Comet NEOWISE Sighted!

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as seen over Hwy. 25 on the west side of Starkville at 7:17 p.m. Central Daylight Time on October 14, 2024.
Photo by Physics & Astronomy Associate Professor Donna M. Pierce. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as seen over Hwy. 25 on the west side of Starkville at 7:17 p.m. Central Daylight Time on October 14, 2024.  The small bright spot next to the tree on the left is Venus.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) as seen from MSU's Thad Cochran Research Park at 4:49 a.m. Central Daylight Time on July 11, 2020.

At the time, the comet was 0.38 AU (35.3 million miles) from the sun and 0.88 AU (81.8 million miles) from the earth.

Comet NEOWISE was discovered on March 27, 2020 and reached naked-eye visibility in early July.

Comets are small solar system bodies that release gas and dust when they are heated by solar radiation as the pass close to the sun. Astronomers are interested in learning more about comets because their chemical composition and physical construction may provide insights into solar system formation.

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