A newly discovered Comet C/2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE, which has been spotted from several parts of the world, is now visible over India, in the north-western sky from 14^th July onwards for the next 20 days (until mid-August). It will be visible after sunset for around 20 minutes.

Neowise came from the outermost reaches of our solar system. It’s orbit took it dangerously close to the Sun on July 3, 10 million miles closer than Mercury’s orbit, but it survived and made its way towards Earth. It’s close proximity to the Sun caused dust and gas to burn off its surface and create an even bigger debris tail (two brightly coloured tails of gas and dust). NASA’s infrared space telescope discovered the comet in March. Scientists involved in the mission said the comet is about 5 kilometres across and its nucleus is covered with sooty material dating back to the origin of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. It will be about 7000 years before the comet returns said the telescope’s deputy principal investigator of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Comet Neowise appears over Mount Washington in the US.

Read more at: https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/comet-neowise-is-easily-visible-in-the-night-sky-this-week-heres-when-and-where-to-look-for-it-/articleshow/76984754.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

International Space Station in the Ahmedabad Sky

The International Space Station (ISS) has been orbiting our planet since 1998. From most locations on Earth, assuming you have clear night skies, you can see ISS for yourself. To us on Earth, it looks like a bright star moving quickly from horizon to horizon. It is traveling in space at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. Unlike stars, the ISS doesn’t flicker. As suddenly as it appears, it disappears. How do you know when to see ISS pass overhead from your location? NASA has a great tool to help – the Spot the Station program lets you sign up to receive alerts to let you know when ISS will be visible from your location – anywhere in the world. Plus there’s a map-based feature to track when to look for the station as it flies over you in your night sky. Sightings can last as little as one minute or as long as six minutes, depending on the ISS’s angle of travel relative to viewers on the ground. The brightness of the ISS comes from its massive solar panels, which reflects the light of the Sun. As the third brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon, the ISS becomes easy to spot once you know when and where to look.

The International Space Station (ISS), sky after the sun and moon,  passed some 400 kilometres over Gujarat on Tuesday, 14^th July night, giving people, especially in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, a glimpse of the space technology marvel.

The ISS is a modular space station in low Earth orbit

In the Ahmedabad sky, the ISS was visible as a bright dot when it emerged from the south-west horizon at 8:35 pm on 14^th July, and vanished some six minutes later in the opposite direction. “Due to its current path, ISS was clearly visible today for the people living in Ahmedabad and Rajkot. People in other cities of Gujarat may not have seen it this clearly mainly because the ISS did not pass directly overhead and remained at an angle,” said Narottam Sahoo, an adviser with the Gujarat Council of Science and Technology (GUJCOST). Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ , https://earthsky.org/human-world/how-to-spot-the-international-space-station