Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has put on a very good show in the Northern hemisphere. It was however briefly visible in Australia – but it was when the comet was moving away from the Sun and rapidly fading. Could it be seen from Sydney? The location of the comet was shown in Stellarium, so I knew where to look.
The evening of the 29th July was fairly clear of clouds around dusk, so I started scanning the sky in the comet’s location area with binoculars. I could not see anything. So I set up camera on a tripod and took some photos. By looking at a magnified image on the rear LCD screen I could clearly see a tiny green dot – it was the comet. I centre the camera at that spot and took some more photos. My view was hindered a bit by some overhead cables, and I was hoping that as the comet lower in the sky, the view would improve. Also, it would then be a bit darker – so the comet may show up better. But no. A bank of clouds rolled in and that was that.
Both the photos here are from the same original. Both are heavily cropped. The upper one a lot more than the lower photo. They were taken with a 85 mm lens. Details – 85 mm, f 1.8, 1.6 seconds, 800 ISO.