Just as Comet ATLAS was starting to disintegrate on March 22, 2020, astronomers discovered a new comet on March 27 named Comet Neowise.
Soon, during the dark beginning months of the pandemic, people would come to learn about the new comet approaching the sun. By July, observers across the globe looked to the heavens to catch a glimpse of the brightest comet since the popular Comet Hale-Bopp graced us with its presence in 1997. The comet offered a brief summertime reprieve from the darkened days of 2020.
At the time, measurements found Neowise to be 3 miles in diameter and traveling at 40 miles per second–that’s around 144,000 MPH!
We will always be grateful for Neowise’s presence in the summer of 2020. And, it’s good we enjoyed its beauty as it will not grace our skies for another 7,000 years. 1
My Observations
| Date | July 13, 2020 |
| Time | 9:50 p.m. |
| Location | Sacramento, CA |
| Camera | Canon 70d |
| Seeing | Above Average |
| Transparency | Above Average |
on July 13, 2020
on July 13, 2020. Neowise near the western horizon.
I’ll forever be grateful for the driving trip my family took to California in July of 2020. It was a precious time connecting with extended family after a harsh spring. Plus I couldn’t beat the clear view of the western horizon from our sister’s home as we enjoyed capturing Neowise. An hour after these photos were taken, my wife and I witnessed the longest shooting star I’ve seen in my life. It created a beautiful bright streak of light overhead that lasted more than 3-4 seconds. It was as if the Father of Lights was reminding us of hope during a dark time.
Discovered on March 27, 2020
Neowise makes its closest approach to the sun on July 3, 2020.
Sources and Notes
The banner photo of Neowise was captured by amateur astrophotographer David Rousseau on July 21, 2020, in Quebec, Canada in a Bortle 4 sky. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
1 Gohd, C. (2020, July 19). Comet neowise: 10 big questions (and answers) about the icy wanderer. Space.com. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.space.com/comet-neowise-strange-facts.html
2 By Phoenix7777 – Own work. Data source: HORIZONS System, JPL, NASA, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92399243
The Garden Astronomer 
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