Comet Photos & Other Nighttime Diversions

· Posted by Joshua in Headlines, Nature

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, discovered only a few months ago, is now putting on a marvelous show in the northern sky.

I went out last week with a 55mm F1.8 lens to capture some obligatory comet photos and then turned my camera on a few other highlights of the July 2020 evening sky over Wisconsin. Click on a picture to expand it.

I. Comet NEOWISE above the pines:

Comet NEOWISE streaks across the blue sky of early evening as the last colors of sunset fade below the horizon.
Comet NEOWISE and a pine grove. About 1½ hours after sunset.

II. Comet NEOWISE and the Farm Silo

Comet NEOWISE sits in the dark sky just above the horizon, with a farm silo illuminated in the distance
Comet NEOWISE nears the horizon, with a farm silo illuminated in the distance. About 2¼ hours after sunset.

III. Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter is the brightest object in this photograph of the southern horizon. Saturn is also visible as a bright speck to the lower left of Jupiter.
Jupiter is the brightest object in this photograph of the southern horizon. Saturn is also visible as a bright speck to the lower left of Jupiter. Both planets are nearly opposite the sun as viewed from earth, with Jupiter’s opposition on July 14 and Saturn’s on July 20.

IV. The Big Dipper

The starry night sky showing the Big Dipper above the tree tops.
The Big Dipper

V. Scorpius

The starry night sky showing the Scorpius constellation. The bright red star near the center of this photo is Antares, which marks the heart of the Scorpius. Ptolemy's Cluster is visible in the lower left corner between the trees.
The bright red star near the center of this photo is Antares, which marks the heart of the Scorpius constellation. Ptolemy’s Cluster is visible in the lower left corner between the trees.

VI. The Northeast Horizon

The red lights of radio towers glow on the horizon below a thin layer of clouds. The Double Cluster is visible in the clear sky high above the two radio towers on the left. Meanwhile, the Andromeda Galaxy appears as a bright smudge near the center right.
The red lights of radio towers glow on the horizon below a thin layer of clouds. The Double Cluster is visible in the clear sky high above the two radio towers on the left. Meanwhile, the Andromeda Galaxy appears as a bright smudge near the center right.

The sky photos in this post, Comet Photos & Other Nighttime Diversions, are Copyright 2020 Joshua Wachuta and are available for free reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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