Heavens Above

 

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE Near Barcelona.

Photo by Albert Llop / NurPhoto via Getty Images

 

Immediately after the distress of those days

the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

 

Jesus -- Matthew 24:29

Comets

Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles.

 

Source: NASA 

I sent son Isaac a link to an online National Geographic piece about what is described as one of the brightest comets in years. Ike is keen on the heavens above, and has become increasingly knowledgeable. He searches out "dark sky" spots in the area and has a telescope he trots out from time to time. The comet is NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) and it will be visible in Northern Hemisphere skies until mid-August.

Isaac is also a United Church minister so aware that there are many references in scripture to the celestial bodies that are signs and portents of everything from the Creator's blessing to God's curse, although this isn't why he's interested.

The most obvious is whatever the "star" of Matthew's gospel might have been, which led the Magi to Bethlehem and the young Jesus.

Getting a glimpse of NEOWISE is described as a "once in a lifetime" experience, given that the path it  takes around the Sun takes nearly 7,000 years to complete. Although it has been visible just before dawn, starting today the comet will start to appear in the evening just after sunset. It’ll be in the northwestern sky, below the Big Dipper constellation (or Ursa Major). Get our there!