Not since the memorable appearances of Comets Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997 has the world had the opportunity to see and photograph a fantastic naked-eye comet. Discovered on March 27, 2020, Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE rounded the sun on July 3 at a close approach of 43 million kilometres and survived. Two other comets namely Atlas and Swan fizzled out a few months prior and so did our opportunity to see these celestial visitors.

Standing under a dark country sky on a moonless night, our eyes drink in a couple of thousand stars as well as visible planets. This alone is a wonder but once we use the magnification of a telescope, fainter objects now reveal their subtle detail. Amateur astronomers not only use their telescopes to magnify what the unaided eye sees but hunt down the elusive galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.