Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, July 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:13. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 3:20 tomorrow morning.

Comet NEOWISE is now visible in the northwest at about 11:00 pm. It doesn’t fare too well in twilight. The tail will be near vertical but tilted a bit to the right. The comet’s orbit is tilted about 40 degrees to the Earth’s orbital plane and it is traveling opposite the traffic flow of the planets and asteroids of the solar system. It came from the south and is reaching its northern most position before heading back to the south. It is actually circumpolar now, meaning it is far enough north in our sky so it doesn’t set for those of us in the Grand Traverse region for another 6 days. Its low point will be just scraping the northern horizon. It is still visible in the morning in the northeast, but the evening time is now the best time to view it.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Comet 2020 F3 NEOWISE at 11 pm July 16, 2020, approximately an hour and a half after sunset. Created using Stellarium.

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) orbit. Comet position at July 16 at 8 pm EDT: Earth distance 0.765 au, Sun distance 0.479 au. Credit JPL Small-Body Browser