If you’re willing to wake up in the middle of the night this weekend, you’ll get to see a comet racing through the B.C. sky.
Comet NEOWISE was first discovered in March and could only be seen through powerful telescopes. But it has recently brightened enough that the average person can see it through binoculars.
RELATED: Thanks To The Cool June Weather, B.C. Forest Fires Are At a Low
The comet will be visible Sunday at 3:30 am, about 10 degrees above the northwest horizon.
[sjnow-ad-large-leaderboard]
I have a strong dislike of early mornings—but so worth it today because wow is that comet beautiful! C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) I was at Sunset Crater by 4AM. It was an easy naked-eye object, but really rewarding through binoculars. Last pic is closest to naked eye scale.#neowise pic.twitter.com/1I0Cx2fZQJ
— Jeremy Perez (@jperez1690) July 5, 2020
Over time, the comet will continue rising and on July 20th it will be about 20 degrees above the horizon at around 10 pm. The comet will be closest to Earth on July 22nd.
But if it doesn’t maintain its current brightness, you won’t be able to see it at all. There is also a chance it will break apart, as was witnessed with another comet in December 2019.
So, you’ll have to keep your eyes to the sky this month.
For more Vancouver news, head to our News section.
[sjnow-ad-large-leaderboard]