Comet Neowise: Nasa to give live update about object that has suddenly become visible

Nasa will hold a live event to discuss Comet Neowise, the space agency has announced.

The comet has become cleebrated in recent days after it became suddenly visible in the night sky. It was discovered in March and is currently on a journey that will take it past Earth before it heads back out to the edges of the solar system.

Nasa's event will be attended by a representative from Nasa's Planetary Defense Coordination Office – which works to track potentially dangerous objects in space, as well as organise our response to them – as well as representatives of the Neowise space telescope that spotted the comet and gave it its name.

Unlike other recent comets that offered hope they could be seen with the naked eye, such as Comet Atlas, Neowise survived its journey around the Sun and is now on a journey that will bring it closer to our planet.

It is already visible with the naked eye in the early morning sky, and should soon be able to be seen after sunset, too.

While it is difficult to predict the future of such comets, in part because they are susceptible to breaking up as they fly through space, the object is expected to stay bright enough to see for the coming weeks.

Nasa said that the event will provide an opportunity to discuss the comet, answer questions from the public, as well as update the media.

A teleconference for the press will follow that public event, and will be attended by Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer and program executive of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office; Emily Kramer, co-investigator on the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) science team; and Amy Mainzer, NEOWISE principal investigator, University of Arizona.

Nasa did not give any indication of the specifics of what would be discussed in either of the events, or whether they would make new announcements about the object.

The public event will be streamed live on Nasa TV and on its website, as well as the space agency's official Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, LinkedIn, Twitch and Ustream pages. Members of the public have been invited to ask questions either by tweeting them using the hashtag #AskNASA or by leaving comments on the live stream.

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