14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2020
EYEWITNESS
PHOTO BY JUSTIN CAMENZULI
Ancient
ice
This month a cosmic visitor graced
the skies. A comet swept past the
sun on 3 July, and became visible
to the naked eye. Photographer
Justin Camenzuli had the rare
opportunity to glimpse the chunk
of ancient ice from the outer solar
system as it got brighter.
Scientists using the Near-Earth
Object Wide-Field Infrared
Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space
telescope first spotted the comet
as it hurtled toward the sun on
March 27. Informally dubbed
NEOWISE after the telescope but
officially labeled C/2020 F3, the
comet gradually brightened as
sunlight and solar wind caused it
to release gases and form a tail. In
early June it reached the far side
of the sun, as seen from Earth.
The resulting glare prevented
astronomers from observing
the comet for several weeks.
By late June, however, it swam
back into the optics of another
space telescope, the Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
On 3 July observers watched
closely as the comet began the
most perilous part of its journey:
its nearest approach to the sun,
which brought it within 44 million
kilometers of our star. The intense
light and heat from such close
proximity tends to make comets
disintegrate and disappear from
the night sky. Earlier this year,
such breakups befell two other
comets, ATLAS and SWAN, that
astronomers had hoped would
light up Earth's skies. But NEOWISE
survived and emerged brighter
than before to dazzle stargazers.
