Spotting Neowise

A lot of people have been talking about the comet “Neowise” lately.  The comet is 3 miles wide and is made of ice and dust.  My family has been using the SkySafari phone app on an Android phone to spot the comet the last few nights.  The app is great at helping amateurs find objects in the sky.  You can download the free version of SkySafari to your phone through the Google  Play Store.  There is no need to download the paid Pro or Plus versions.

The Neowise comet is supposed to be closest to Earth Thursday night.  If you want to use SkySafari to locate the comet, follow these steps:

1. Download SkySafari from Google Play Store.
2. After it downloads open it.
3. The first time you open SkySafari, you will need to allow permission to access photos, media and files for the app to work.
4. Next, you will need to allow SkySafari to access the device’s location.  I set it to allow only while using the app.
5. The app should be open now, press Search at the bottom.
6. Select Brightest Comets in the list.
7. Select NEOWISE.  For now, it is located at the top of the list.
8. At the bottom, click Center.  This will show the current location of Neowise.
9. At night, take your phone outside and point up towards the sky in a Northwesterly fashion.  Move the phone around until Neowise shows up on the screen.