There's something in the night sky you won't want to miss! For the first time since 1997, when Comet Hale-Bopp streaked through, a bright comet will be visible during the coming week in the night skies over New Jersey. Comet Neowise has been prominent in the hour before sunrise for the past several days. But starting tonight, the comet can be seen in the northwestern skies about an hour after sunset. Where and when to look? For tonight and tomorrow night, you can view the comet from about 9:10 to 10:30 p.m. Here's some advice from our staff biologist Dr. Emile DeVito, an astronomy buff since childhood: - Pick a location as dark as possible, with a good view toward the horizon to the north and northwest. Try to find a place where light pollution from a large town is not directly to the north or northwest of your location. Use binoculars to get the best view.
- First focus your binoculars on bright stars directly overhead, to be sure that stars appear as pinpricks of light, then begin to look for the comet. Look north-northwest low toward the horizon, below and to the right of the cup of Big Dipper. Hold your outstretched fist on the horizon, look about 2 to 3 fist-heights above the horizon.
In places with light pollution, you may have to wait until the sky gets darker (closer to 9:45 or 10 p.m.) before you can see the comet. Also know that the comet will be moving closer to Earth until July 22 and changing position and brightness each night! If your home doesn't have dark skies or a clear view of the horizon, consider going to a public park or open space, or even a quiet rural roadside. Here are some suggestions: - Sunset Beach in Lower Township, Cape May County, or other permissible spots in Cape May with a view over Delaware Bay, should offer spectacular views! - Franklin Parker Preserve in the Pine Barrens of Woodland Township, Burlington County. The Preserve is normally closed at night, but New Jersey Conservation Foundation is allowing walking access until July 25 to view the comet. Use the Speedwell Entrance (south gate) on west side of Rt 563 south of Chatsworth. Walk into the preserve onto sand roads for good views to the north-northwest. - Mercer Meadows County Park, Hopewell and Lawrence townships. Though normally closed at dusk, the Mercer County Park Commission will be opening the Reed Bryan Farm parking lot on Federal City Road for comet viewing. - New Jersey's coastal barrier islands with views over Barnegat Bay, especially from Barnegat Light to the south. - Rural roads with wide shoulders and good views over farms toward a low north-northwest horizon, in any rural area of the state - including the Delaware Bayshore, Pine Barrens, and farmlands of Burlington/Monmouth/Ocean counties north of Dix-Maguire-Lakehurst Joint Base area. - Farmlands or hilltops in safe locations in any area of Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, Warren, Passaic, or Bergen County west and/or north of Interstate 287. Light pollution will differ depending on towns in your direction of view. - Communities along Raritan Bay will have more light pollution than dark sky areas of the state, but there should still be good views with binoculars. Remember, do not trespass on private property without permission, or enter public places that are closed. Urban viewing Even if you can't get to a dark, rural area, you can still view the comet in urban areas if the sky is clear of clouds and doesn't have too much haze from humidity. Try accessible rooftops or upper floors of tall buildings in built-up urban and densely suburban areas, or from public sidewalks adjacent to large open ball fields or recreation areas that allow for low views of the north-northwest horizon. Or try to find areas where bright streetlights or floodlights are least prevalent in the direction where you are looking for the comet. Binoculars will be a must due to light pollution in urban areas. Unfortunately, it will be hard to see the comet's tail if there's a lot of light pollution. If the tail is not visible, you should still be able to see the fuzzy blob of the comet's nucleus. (Note: Don't expect to see with the naked eye anything that looks like the spectacular photographs on the internet! Those photos are taken in places way darker than New Jersey!) Fun comet facts The tail of the comet is not produced behind the comet's path like the wake of a boat. The tail is produced by solar wind, moving out from the sun and carrying evaporated gases and particulate matter from the comet's nucleus away from the sun. The tail points directly away from the sun. The comet already went around the sun last week, and right now the comet is also farther away from the sun on its orbital path toward the far reaches of the solar system. If the orbit of the comet is not perturbed by gravity from another planet or some unknown space body, it will return in 6,766 years! Remember, always try to use binoculars to first search for the comet. If your 20/20 vision and sky conditions allow you to see it with the naked eye, consider that a bonus! Good luck and happy viewing! | 
