Comet NEOWISE - Wikipedia

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Great Comet of 2020 This article is about the "Great Comet of 2020". For other comets discovered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite, see Comet WISE and NEOWISE. C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)(Great Comet of 2020)

Discovery[1]
Comet NEOWISE photographed from Germany on July 14, 2020
Discovered by	NEOWISE
Discovery date	March 27, 2020
Designations
Alternative designations	CK20F030
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	July 6, 2020 (JD 2459036.5)
Observation arc	1.2 years (438 days)
Number ofobservations	1,315
Aphelion	538 AU (inbound)710 AU (outbound)
Perihelion	0.295 AU
Semi-major axis	270 AU (inbound)355 AU (outbound)
Eccentricity	0.99921
Orbital period	~4,500 yrs (inbound)~6,800 yrs (outbound)
Inclination	128.94°
Longitude ofascending node	61.010°
Argument ofperiapsis	37.279°
Mean anomaly	0.0003°
Last perihelion	3 July 2020
TJupiter	−0.408
Earth MOID	0.362 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.813 AU
Physical characteristics[1]
Dimensions	~5.0 km (3.1 mi)
Synodic rotation period	7.58±0.03 hours
Comet totalmagnitude (M1)	7.5–12.1
Apparent magnitude	0.5–1.0(2020 apparition)

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2.0 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth.[4]

NEOWISE is known for being the brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997.[5] It was widely photographed by professional and amateur observers and was even spotted by people living near city centers and areas with light pollution.[6] While it was too close to the Sun to be observed at perihelion, it emerged from perihelion around magnitude 0.5 to 1, making it bright enough to be visible to the naked eye.[7] Under dark skies, it could be seen with the naked eye and remained visible to the naked eye throughout July 2020.[8][9] By July 30, the comet was about magnitude 5,[10] when binoculars were required near urban areas to locate the comet.

For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the comet could be seen on the northwestern horizon, below the Big Dipper. North of 45 degrees north, the comet was visible all night in mid-July 2020. On July 30, Comet NEOWISE entered the constellation of Coma Berenices, below the bright star Arcturus.

NEOWISE was retroactively dubbed the Great Comet of 2020.

History and observations

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Discovery image – the comet appears as three fuzzy red dots in this composite of three infrared images taken by NEOWISE on March 27, 2020

The object was discovered by a team using the WISE space telescope under the NEOWISE program on March 27, 2020.[1] It was classified as a comet on March 31 and named after NEOWISE on April 1.[4] It has the systematic designation C/2020 F3, indicating a non-periodic comet which was the third discovered in the second half of March 2020.

Comet NEOWISE made its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on July 3, 2020, at a distance of 0.29 AU (43 million km; 27 million mi). This passage through the planetary region increases the comet's orbital period from about 4500 years to about 6800 years.[2] Its closest approach to Earth occurred on July 23, 2020, 01:09 UTC, at a distance of 0.69 AU (103 million km; 64 million mi) while located in the constellation of Ursa Major.[11]

In early July, the comet could be seen in the morning sky just above the north-eastern horizon and below Capella. Seen from Earth, the comet was less than 20 degrees from the Sun between June 11–July 9, 2020. By June 10, 2020 as the comet was being lost to the glare of the Sun, it was apparent magnitude 7.0,[10] when it was 0.7 AU (100 million km; 65 million mi) away from Sun and 1.6 AU (240 million km; 150 million mi) away from Earth. When the comet entered the field of view of the SOHO spacecraft's LASCO C3 instrument on June 22, 2020, the comet had brightened to about magnitude 3.0, when it was 0.4 AU (60 million km; 37 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.4 AU (210 million km; 130 million mi) away from Earth.[10]

By early July, Comet NEOWISE had brightened to magnitude 1.0,[12][13] far exceeding the brightness attained by previous comets that year, C/2020 F8 (SWAN), and C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). By July, it also had developed a second tail. The first tail was blue and made of gas and ions. There was also a red separation in the tail caused by high amounts of sodium. The second twin tail was a golden color and was made of dust, like the tail of Comet Hale–Bopp.[citation needed] The comet was brighter than C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS),[14] but not as bright as Hale–Bopp was in 1997. After perihelion, the comet began to fade, dropping to magnitude 2.0 in mid-July.[15] Its nucleus activity subdued after mid-July, and its green coma was clearly visible after that.

On July 13, 2020, a sodium tail was confirmed by the Planetary Science Institute's Input/Output facility.[16] Sodium tails have only been observed in very bright comets such as Hale–Bopp and C/2012 S1 (ISON).

From the infrared signature, the diameter of the comet nucleus is estimated to be approximately 5 km (3.1 mi).[1] The nucleus is similar in size to Comet Hyakutake and many short-period comets such as 2P/Encke, 7P/Pons–Winnecke, 8P/Tuttle, 14P/Wolf, and 19P/Borrelly.[17] By July 5, NASA's Parker Solar Probe had captured an image of the comet, from which astronomers also estimated the diameter of the comet nucleus at approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) as well.[18]Later in July 2020, other observations were also reported, including those related to coma morphology,[19] and spectrographic emissions.[20][21][22][23] On 31 July 2020, strong detection of OH 18-cm emission was observed in radio spectroscopic studies at the Arecibo Observatory.[24]On August 14, 2020, the rotation period of the comet was reported to be "7.58±0.03 hr".[25]

After its perihelion and closest approach to Earth, a number of authors have suggested considering NEOWISE as a great comet.[26][27][28][29][30][31] Others have argued that it lacked the brightness and visible tail to qualify.[32] Retroactively, in the years that followed, NEOWISE is commonly remembered as a great comet.[33][34]

Trajectory

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2020)

Comet NEOWISE's retrograde orbit crossed to the north of the plane of the ecliptic, to which it is inclined at approximately 129 degrees, on June 29, 2020, 01:47 UTC.[12][2] It made its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on July 3, 2020, at a distance of 0.29 AU (43 million km; 27 million mi). This passage increases the comet's orbital period from about 4400 years to about 6700 years.[2] On July 18, the comet peaked at a northern declination of +48 and was circumpolar down to latitude 42N.[11] Its closest approach to Earth occurred on July 23, 2020, 01:09 UTC, at a distance of 0.69 AU (103 million km; 64 million mi) while located in the constellation of Ursa Major.[11]

The comet's orbital characteristics suggest it originated from the Oort cloud. Its high orbital eccentricity of 0.99921 confirms its path is a nearly parabolic trajectory, typical of long-period comets making one of their first passages into the inner Solar System. The orbital inclination of 129 degrees classifies it as a retrograde comet, meaning it orbits the Sun in the opposite direction to Earth and the other planets. This path is what allowed it to approach the Sun from the south of the ecliptic plane before crossing northwards just before its perihelion. The difference between the inbound orbital period of about 4,400 years and the outbound period of about 6,700 years is a result of gravitational perturbations from the planets. As the comet passed through the planetary region, the slight gravitational pull from the planets transferred energy to it, accelerating it and placing it on a higher-energy, longer-period outbound orbit. This also increased its aphelion, the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun.

Diagram of the comet's nearly parabolic orbit
Comet's position in the sky – the retrograde loops are caused by parallax from Earth's annual motion around the Sun; the most apparent movement occurs when the comet is closest to Earth
Animation of C/2020 F3's orbit around Sun C/2020 F3 · Sun · Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars

In popular culture

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The fictional comet Dibiasky on the 2021 film Don't Look Up was "very loosely" modelled after comet NEOWISE.[35][36]

Gallery

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In chronological order:

July 7, 2020, Golden Gate Bridge, California, United States
Inverted telescope image photographed on July 9, 2020
July 14, 2020 near the San Francisco Peaks in the Flagstaff dark sky preserve
July 17, 2020, 18:59 UTC over Asterousia, Crete, as it entered into Ursa Major
Comet C2020 NEOWISE 17-07-2020 20:51:57 UTC La Canada observatory
Midnight, July 18, 2020 – in a time-lapse taken from the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, U.S. the view was rotating because the lens was on a tracking mount
Above Chimney Rock on July 18, 2020
July 19, 2020 in Villanovaforru (Sardinia, Italy)
NEOWISE from the Eastern Sierra Mountains – July 20, 2020
July 21, 2020 in Quebec, Canada
Joshua Tree National Park, a dark-sky preserve, on July 21, 2020
Time lapse from Balikesir, Turkey on July 22, 2020
Hubble image taken on August 8, 2020

References

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^ a b c d M. Mace (July 8, 2020). "Comet NEOWISE Sizzles as It Slides by the Sun, Providing a Treat for Observers". Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
^ a b c d JPL Horizons barycentric solution for epoch 1800 (before entering planetary region) Goto JPL Horizons 1800-Jan-01 is "PR = 1.64 × 106/365.25 days" = 4490 years 2200-Jan-01 is "PR = 2.48 × 106/365.25 days" = 6789 years (For long-period comets on multi-thousand year orbits, asymmetric outgassing will affect the highly sensitive orbital period and eccentricity.)
^ "C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
^ a b J. Masiero; P. Breitenstein; H. Sato; P. Camilleri; et al. (April 1, 2020). "MPEC 2020-G05: Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
^ D. Falk (July 9, 2020). "One of the brightest comets in decades is passing Earth. Here's how to see it". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ A. Mann (July 15, 2020). "Comet NEOWISE: How to See It in Night Skies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ M. Armstrong (July 17, 2020). "Don't miss Comet NEOWISE in the evening". Astronomy Now. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ E. Irizarry. "How to see Comet NEOWISE". EarthSky. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
^ S. Yoshida. "C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". www.aerith.net. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
^ a b c "C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". Comet Observation database (COBS). Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
^ a b c "Horizons Web-Interface". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020. Ephemeris Type: Observer, Observer Location: Geocentric 500, Note: Closest approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive; Maximum northern declination is 2020-Jul-18 07h)
^ a b D. Dickinson (June 30, 2020). "Comet F3 NEOWISE May Perform in July". Universe Today. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
^ M. M. Knight; K. Battams (August 14, 2020). "Morphology and Photometry of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) from SOHO". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13853: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13853....1K.
^ A. MacRobert (April 2, 2013). "Updates on Comet PanSTARRS". Sky & Telescope. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ N. James (July 6, 2020). "Visual observations page". Comet Section. British Astronomical Association. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
^ A. Fischer; J. Mergenthaler (July 13, 2020). "NEOWISE: Rare Image of a Comet's Sodium Tail". Planetary Science Institute. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
^ "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: numbered comets and diameter > 4 (km) and diameter < 6 (km)". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (July 11, 2020). "The Tails of Comet NEOWISE". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
^ F. Manzini; P. Ochner; V. Oldani; L. R. Bedin (July 21, 2020). "Morphological Structures in the inner coma of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13884: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13884....1M.
^ Z. Y. Lin; C. Wang; W. H. Ip; K. P. Huang; et al. (July 22, 2020). "The Sodium Emission of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) observed at KenTing and Lulin observatory". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13886: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13886....1L.
^ A. Krishnakumar; D. Angchuk; K. Venkataramani; et al. (July 26, 2020). "CN, C2, C3 production rates of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) as observed from Himalayan Chandra Telescope, Hanle, India". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13897: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13897....1K.
^ M. Mugrauer; R. Bischoff (August 9, 2020). "Follow-Up Spectroscopy of Comet C/2020 F3". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13928: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13928....1M.
^ M. Mugrauer; R. Bischoff (2021). "Follow-Up Spectroscopy of Comet C/2020 F3". Astronomische Nachrichten. 342 (6): 833–839. arXiv:2105.02193. Bibcode:2021AN....342..833B. doi:10.1002/asna.202113961.
^ A. J. Smith; P. K. Manoharan; A. McGilvray; et al. (August 25, 2020). "Strong detection of OH 18-cm emission from Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13968: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13968....1S.
^ M. Drahus; P. Guzik; A. Stephens; S. B. Howell; et al. (August 14, 2020). "Rotation of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13945: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13945....1D.
^ S. Yoshida (July 18, 2020). "Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2020 July 18: North)". www.aerith.net. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
^ S. Yoshida (July 19, 2020). "Seiichi Yoshida's Diary of Comet Observations (2020)". www.aerith.net. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ B. Berman (July 18, 2020). "Comet NEOWISE Update: Easy To See In The Evening! When And How To See Comet NEOWISE". Farmer's Almanac. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (July 18, 2020). "Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ J. Carter (July 23, 2020). "Act Now For Your Best And Last Chance To See Comet NEOWISE This Weekend. Here's When, Where And How". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ "The Great Comet of 2020 (NEOWISE)". The University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Skycenter. July 23, 2020. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ J. Rao (July 24, 2020). "The curtain is about to come down on Comet NEOWISE". Space.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (July 26, 2022). "Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
^ "Great Comets: What Are They, And When Will the Next Comet Be Visible?". Star Walk. October 16, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
^ A. Cohen (March 5, 2024). "Meet Dr. Amy Mainzer, the Comet Consultant on "Don't Look Up"". Netflix. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
^ N. Atkinson (December 28, 2021). "The Real Science Behind the Movie "Don't Look Up"". Universe Today. Retrieved November 26, 2024.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) – Comet Watch
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) Archived July 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine – AiM-Project-Group
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) – Ernesto Guido & Adriano Valvasori
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) Information & Planetarium Archived July 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine – TheSkyLive
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) on YouTube – ISS view (video; 7:00; July 7, 2020)
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) on YouTube – Tom Polakis; 300w rms/20mins (video; 0:10; July 7, 2020)
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) – Seiichi Yoshida
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) photo gallery – Mathew Browne
HDR Astrophotography: Simulations Atlas of Past Comets (2000 to Today) by Nicolas Lefaudeux
Comet NEOWISE at the JPL Small-Body Database
- Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

Comets

Features	Nucleus Coma Tails Antitail Comet dust Meteor shower
Types	Periodic Numbered Lost Long period Halley-type Jupiter-family Encke-type Main-belt Non-periodic Near-parabolic Hyperbolic Unknown-orbit Great Comet Sungrazing (Kreutz) Extinct Exocomet Interstellar Dark comet
Related	Naming of comets Observational history of comets Centaur Comet discoverers LINEAR Extraterrestrial atmosphere Oort cloud Small Solar System body Asteroid
Exploration	List of missions to comets List of comets visited by spacecraft
Latest	C/2025 R2 (SWAN) 3I/ATLAS C/2025 F2 (SWAN) C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) C/2022 E3 (ZTF) C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) C/2021 J1 (Maury-Attard) C/2021 A1 (Leonard) C/2020 S3 (Erasmus) C/2020 X3 (SOHO) C/2020 F8 (SWAN) C/2020 F5 (MASTER) C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) C/2019 Y1 (ATLAS) C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) 2I/Borisov P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS)
Culture andspeculation	Antimatter comet Comets in fiction Comet vintages

Lists of comets (more)

Periodiccomets

Until 1985(all)

1P/Halley
2P/Encke
3D/Biela
4P/Faye
5D/Brorsen
6P/d'Arrest
7P/Pons–Winnecke
8P/Tuttle
9P/Tempel
10P/Tempel
11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR
12P/Pons–Brooks
13P/Olbers
14P/Wolf
15P/Finlay
16P/Brooks
17P/Holmes
18D/Perrine–Mrkos
19P/Borrelly
20D/Westphal
21P/Giacobini–Zinner
22P/Kopff
23P/Brorsen–Metcalf
24P/Schaumasse
25D/Neujmin
26P/Grigg–Skjellerup
27P/Crommelin
28P/Neujmin
29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
30P/Reinmuth
31P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
32P/Comas Solà
33P/Daniel
34D/Gale
35P/Herschel–Rigollet
36P/Whipple
37P/Forbes
38P/Stephan–Oterma
39P/Oterma
40P/Väisälä
41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák
42P/Neujmin
43P/Wolf–Harrington
44P/Reinmuth
45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková
46P/Wirtanen
47P/Ashbrook–Jackson
48P/Johnson
49P/Arend–Rigaux
50P/Arend
51P/Harrington
52P/Harrington–Abell
53P/Van Biesbroeck
54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT
55P/Tempel–Tuttle
56P/Slaughter–Burnham
57P/du Toit–Neujmin–Delporte
58P/Jackson–Neujmin
59P/Kearns–Kwee
60P/Tsuchinshan
61P/Shajn–Schaldach
62P/Tsuchinshan
63P/Wild
64P/Swift–Gehrels
65P/Gunn
66P/du Toit
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
68P/Klemola
69P/Taylor
70P/Kojima
71P/Clark
72P/Denning–Fujikawa
73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
74P/Smirnova–Chernykh
75D/Kohoutek
76P/West–Kohoutek–Ikemura
77P/Longmore
78P/Gehrels
79P/du Toit–Hartley
80P/Peters–Hartley
81P/Wild
82P/Gehrels
83D/Russell
84P/Giclas
85D/Boethin

After 1985(notable)

88P/Howell
92P/Sanguin
96P/Machholz
97P/Metcalf–Brewington
103P/Hartley
107P/Wilson–Harrington
108P/Ciffréo
109P/Swift–Tuttle
122P/de Vico
126P/IRAS
141P/Machholz
144P/Kushida
147P/Kushida–Muramatsu
153P/Ikeya–Zhang
156P/Russell–LINEAR
161P/Hartley–IRAS
162P/Siding Spring
168P/Hergenrother
169P/NEAT
177P/Barnard
178P/Hug–Bell
205P/Giacobini
209P/LINEAR
238P/Read
246P/NEAT
249P/LINEAR
252P/LINEAR
255P/Levy
273P/Pons–Gambart
289P/Blanpain
311P/PanSTARRS
322P/SOHO
323P/SOHO
332P/Ikeya–Murakami
333P/LINEAR
354P/LINEAR
362P
460P/PanSTARRS

Comet-likeasteroids

596 Scheila
2060 Chiron (95P)
4015 Wilson–Harrington (107P)
7968 Elst–Pizarro (133P)
165P/LINEAR
166P/NEAT
167P/CINEOS
60558 Echeclus (174P)
118401 LINEAR (176P)
238P/Read
259P/Garradd
311P/PanSTARRS
324P/La Sagra
331P/Gibbs
354P/LINEAR
358P/PANSTARRS
P/2013 R3 (Catalina-PANSTARRS)
(300163) 2006 VW139

Lost

Recovered	9P/Tempel 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR 15P/Finlay 17P/Holmes 27P/Crommelin 54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT 55P/Tempel–Tuttle 57P/du Toit–Neujmin–Delporte 69P/Taylor 72P/Denning–Fujikawa 80P/Peters–Hartley 97P/Metcalf–Brewington 107P/Wilson–Harrington 113P/Spitaler 122P/de Vico 157P/Tritton 205P/Giacobini 206P/Barnard–Boattini 226P/Pigott–LINEAR–Kowalski 271P/van Houten–Lemmon 289P/Blanpain 489P/Denning
Destroyed	3D/Biela D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker–Levy 9)
Not found	D/1770 L1 (Lexell) 5D/Brorsen 18D/Perrine–Mrkos 20D/Westphal 25D/Neujmin 34D/Gale 75D/Kohoutek 83D/Russell 85D/Boethin D/1978 R1 (Haneda–Campos)

Visited byspacecraft

21P/Giacobini–Zinner (1985)
1P/Halley (1986)
26P/Grigg–Skjellerup (1992)
19P/Borrelly (2001)
81P/Wild (2004)
9P/Tempel (2005, 2011)
C/2006 P1 (2007)
103P/Hartley (2010)
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (2014)

Near-Paraboliccomets(notable)

Until 1990	C/-43 K1 (Caesar's Comet) X/1106 C1 (Great Comet of 1106) C/1264 N1 (Great Comet of 1264) C/1402 D1 (Great Comet of 1402) C/1471 Y1 (Great Comet of 1472) C/1577 V1 (Great Comet of 1577) C/1652 Y1 C/1680 V1 (Great Comet of 1680, Kirsch's Comet, Newton's Comet)) C/1702 H1 (Comet of 1702) C/1729 P1 (Comet of 1729, Comet Sarabat) C/1739 K1 (Zanotti) C/1743 X1 (Great Comet of 1744, Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux) C/1760 A1 (Great Comet of 1760) C/1769 P1 (Great Comet of 1769) C/1807 R1 (Great Comet of 1807) C/1811 F1 (Great Comet of 1811) C/1819 N1 (Great Comet of 1819) C/1823 Y1 (Great Comet of 1823) C/1843 D1 (Great March Comet of 1843) C/1846 J1 (Brorsen) C/1847 T1 (Miss Mitchell's Comet) C/1852 K1 (Chacornac) C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) C/1858 L1 (Comet Donati) C/1861 G1 (Comet Thatcher) C/1861 J1 (Great Comet of 1861) C/1862 N1 (Schmidt) C/1864 N1 (Tempel) C/1865 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1865) X/1872 X1 (Pogson's Comet) C/1874 H1 (Comet Coggia) C/1881 K1 (Comet Tebbutt) C/1882 R1 (Great Comet of 1882) C/1887 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1887) C/1893 U1 (Brooks) C/1901 G1 (Great Comet of 1901) C/1907 G1 (Grigg–Mellish) C/1910 A1 (Great January Comet of 1910) C/1911 N1 (Kiess) C/1911 O1 (Brooks) C/1911 S3 (Beljawsky) C/1915 C1 (Mellish) C/1917 F1 (Mellish) C/1927 X1 (Skjellerup–Maristany) C/1931 P1 (Ryves) C/1936 O1 (Kaho–Kozik–Lis) C/1939 H1 (Jurlof–Achmarof–Hassel) C/1941 B2 (de Kock-Paraskevopoulos) C/1947 X1 (Southern Comet) C/1948 L1 (Honda–Bernasconi) C/1948 V1 (Eclipse) C/1956 R1 (Arend–Roland) C/1957 P1 (Mrkos) C/1961 O1 (Wilson-Hubbard) C/1961 R1 (Humason) C/1961 T1 (Seki) C/1962 C1 (Seki-Lines) C/1963 A1 (Ikeya) C/1963 R1 (Pereyra) C/1964 N1 (Ikeya) C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) C/1969 T1 (Tago-Sato-Kosaka) C/1969 Y1 (Bennett) C/1970 K1 (White–Ortiz–Bolelli) C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek) C/1975 T2 (Suzuki–Saigusa–Mori) C/1975 V1 (West) C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield) C/1980 E1 (Bowell) C/1983 H1 (IRAS–Araki–Alcock) C/1983 J1 (Sugano–Saigusa–Fujikawa) C/1989 W1 (Aarseth-Brewington) C/1989 X1 (Austin) C/1989 Y1 (Skorichenko–George)
After 1990	C/1990 K1 (Levy) C/1992 J1 (Spacewatch–Rabinowitz) C/1993 Y1 (McNaught–Russell) C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) C/1997 L1 (Zhu–Balam) C/1998 H1 (Stonehouse) C/1998 J1 (SOHO) C/1999 F1 (Catalina) C/1999 H1 (Lee) C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS) C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) C/2002 V1 (NEAT) C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) C/2006 A1 (Pojmański) C/2006 M4 (SWAN) C/2006 P1 (McNaught) C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) C/2007 F1 (LONEOS) C/2007 N3 (Lulin) C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) C/2007 W1 (Boattini) C/2009 F6 (Yi–SWAN) C/2009 R1 (McNaught) C/2010 X1 (Elenin) C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) C/2012 E2 (SWAN) C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) C/2012 S1 (ISON) C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) C/2013 US10 (Catalina) C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) C/2014 E2 (Jacques) C/2014 Q1 (PanSTARRS) C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein) C/2015 ER61 (PanSTARRS) C/2015 V2 (Johnson) C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) 1I/2017 U1 ʻOumuamua C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) 2I/Borisov C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) C/2020 F8 (SWAN) C/2021 A1 (Leonard) C/2022 E3 (ZTF) C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) C/2025 D1 (Gröller)
After 1910(by name)	Aarseth–Brewington Arend–Roland ATLAS C/2019 Y4 C/2024 G3 C/2024 S1 3I Austin Beljawsky Bennett Bernardinelli–Bernstein Boattini Borisov Bowell Bradfield C/1979 Y1 C/2004 F4 Brooks Catalina C/1999 F1 C/2013 US10 de Kock–Paraskevopoulos Eclipse Elenin Gröller Hale-Bopp Honda–Bernasconi Humason Hyakutake Ikeya C/1963 A1 C/1964 N1 Ikeya-Seki IRAS–Araki–Alcock ISON Iwamoto Jacques Johnson Jurlof–Achmarof–Hassel Kaho–Kozik–Lis Kiess Kohoutek Lee Lemmon C/2012 F6 C/2019 U6 C/2025 A6 Leonard Levy LINEAR C/1999 S4 C/2000 WM1 C/2001 A2 C/2002 T7 LONEOS C/2001 OG108 C/2007 F1 Lovejoy C/2007 E2 C/2011 W3 C/2013 R1 C/2014 Q2 Lulin Machholz McNaught C/2006 P1 C/2009 R1 McNaught–Russell Mellish C/1915 C1 C/1917 F1 Mrkos NEAT C/2001 Q4 C/2002 V1 NEOWISE Nishimura Oukaimeden ʻOumuamua Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4 C/2012 K1 311P/PanSTARRS C/2014 Q1 C/2015 ER61 C/2017 K2 Pereyra Pojmański Ryves Seki Seki–Lines Siding Spring C/2007 Q3 C/2013 A1 Skjellerup–Maristany Skorichenko–George SOHO Solwind Southern Spacewatch Stonehouse Sugano–Saigusa–Fujikawa Suzuki–Saigusa–Mori SWAN C/2006 M4 C/2020 F8 Tago–Sato–Kosaka Tsuchinshan–ATLAS West White–Ortiz–Bolelli Wilson–Hubbard Yi–SWAN Zhu–Balam ZTF

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Space probe launches	Solar Orbiter (Feb 2020) Hope (Jul 2020) Tianwen-1 (Jul 2020) Mars 2020 (Jul 2020) Perseverance rover Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Chang'e 5 (lunar sample return mission; Nov 2020)
Impact events	2020 China bolide
Selected NEOs	Asteroid close approaches 594913 ꞌAylóꞌchaxnim (809875) 2020 BX12 2020 CW 2020 CD3 (temporary satellite) (52768) 1998 OR2 2020 HS7 2020 JJ 2020 LD (163348) 2002 NN4 2020 OY4 2020 QG 2011 ES4 2018 VP1 2020 SO (space debris) 2020 SW 2020 SL1 2020 UA 2020 VV 2020 VT4 (153201) 2000 WO107 (501647) 2014 SD224 (614689) 2020 XL5
Exoplanets	AU Mic b Gliese 414 Ab Ac Gliese 433 b c d GJ 1151 b radio emissions K2-315b Kepler-1649c KOI-456.04 Lacaille 9352 b c M51-ULS-1b OGLE-2016-BLG-1928 (rogue planet) Tau Ceti j (predicted) TOI-561 b c d e TOI-700 b c d TOI-732 b c TOI-1338 b TOI-1339 b c d TYC 8998-760-1 c WD 1856+534 b
Discoveries	Betelgeuse dimming FRB 180916 location and periodicity Radcliffe wave Ophiuchus Supercluster explosion PSO J03094+27 (distant blazar) 2MASS J1047+21 wind speed measurements SGR 1935+2154 (soft gamma ray repeater) HR 6819 black hole hypothesis PHL 293B ending of P Cygni profile hydrogen emission lines Swift J1818.0–1607 (young magnetar) GW190814 (announced) South Pole Wall GW190521 (announced) Phosphine detection in the atmosphere of Venus Water detection on the sunlit surface of the Moon
Comets	C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS) C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) C/2020 F8 (SWAN) C/2019 U6 (LEMMON) C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) 2P/Encke 88P/Howell C/2020 M3 (ATLAS) 156P/Russell–LINEAR C/2020 S3 (Erasmus)
Space exploration	Spitzer retirement (Jan 2020) BepiColombo (Earth gravity assist; Apr 2020, Venus gravity assist; Oct 2020) OSIRIS-REx (sample collection from asteroid Bennu; Oct 2020) Hayabusa2 (sample return from asteroid Ryugu; Dec 2020) Chang'e 5 (lunar sample return; Dec 2020)
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