Orbit from osculating elements
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is placed by solving a Keplerian orbit at the simulation time (a = 364 AU, e = 0.9992, i = 128.9°, period 2,536,000 d).
A spectacular comet visible in summer 2020. The brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Hale-Bopp.
One record per aspect. The origin says what kind of thing each value is; the source says where it came from; the limit says what it cannot tell you.
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is placed by solving a Keplerian orbit at the simulation time (a = 364 AU, e = 0.9992, i = 128.9°, period 2,536,000 d).
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE): mean radius 2.5 km. These values are bundled with the object record and drive the rendered size.
The nucleus, coma and tail are identification geometry. Tail direction follows the propagated orbit and the Sun direction; the local shape is representative.
The short description and the fact list are written by the Space Time authors for orientation. They are not quoted from a catalog field and carry no citation of their own.
| Dataset | Last refreshed | Horizon | Automated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Searchable comet catalog (all comets) | no snapshot date | Every JPL comet record with elements and photometric parameters | Yes, weekly (Monday data job) npm run generate:comets |