The comet Neowise visible to the naked eye until the end of July throughout the Northern hemisphere

"The last big comet that we could see with the naked eye so easily, it was Hale-Bopp in 1997," says an astronomer from the Observatory of Paris-PSL.

The sky of the Northern hemisphere offers this summer in the beautiful spectacle of a comet, called "Neowise", in which the plume exceptionally bright is visible to the naked eye, a phenomenon that had not occurred for over 20 years.

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the Discovery in late march by the satellite Neowise at Nasa, the comet became visible to the naked eye on July 3, during its perihelion passage, that is to say, the closer to the Sun, explained Monday, Lucie Maquet, astronomer of the Observatory of Paris-PSL.

At this distance from the Sun of 0.3 astronomical unit, or about 50 million miles - the ice contained in the comet is sublimated into gas, creating this long tail of dust reflecting the light of the Sun. "It is quite rare to see both comets. The last big comet that we could see with the naked eye so easily, it was Hale-Bopp in 1997," said the astronomer.

Visible even in the city

Neowise is visible everywhere from the Northern hemisphere, even in the cities, provided that the sky is clear. The aim should be towards the north-east, between the constellations of the Box, and the Big Dipper - the very opposite of the handle of the "saucepan".

The object, a core composed of ice, rock, and organic materials from the outer solar system : either the Kuiper belt or even further away, the cloud of Oort, both of which are reservoirs of small celestial bodies.

The comets as Neowise are of great ellipses, with the focus on the Sun, and put between 4000 and 6000 years to make one complete turn, detailed Lucie Maquet. The phenomenon will be visible until the end of July, losing little by little in brightness as the object moves farther from the Sun, to return where he came from.