by Paul Breitenstein

The comet C / 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was first reported on March 31, 2020 by the American Joseph R. Masiero to the Minor Planet Center (MPC). He had discovered the object on images taken on March 26 and 27, 2020 of the WISE satellite for the NEOWISE project.

Only a few hours later we were able to confirm this discovery with our pictures of the 2.0 meter Faulkes Telescope South in Siding Spring / Australia. These were the world’s first images of the newly discovered comet to be made from Earth!

This has been confirmed by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) through the Minor Planet Electronic Circular MPEC 2020-G05.

C / 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is a recurring comet with an almost parabolic orbit. The period is probably 6000 years or more.

Its brightness has increased so much in recent weeks that if we are lucky we can admire the comet in July 2020 with the naked eye in the northern sky. Unfortunately, comets are moody objects, such as comets C / 2019 Y4 (ATLAS) and C / 2020 F8 (SWAN) have proven.

The AiM Project Group can control 25 research telescopes from Münster via the Internet, including the 2m Faulkes Telescope in Siding Spring / Australia (FTS). AiM – Asteronomy and internet in Münsterhttp://aim-muenster.de/AiM-Project-Group/Some-Impressions/Comet-C/2020-F3-NEOWISE/

First earth-based images:
2m Faulkes Telescope South (E10)
Siding Spring/Australia
22 x 40s
Filter R
March 31, 2020
09:03:48 – 09:30:20 UT