At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2 Atronomical Units or 190 million miles away from the Sun and 1.7 AU or 160 million miles away from Earth.

It's two tails are about a million miles long and all the tail material is stemming from a core that is only about 3 miles in diameter!

The blue tail is called an ion tail and is formed as magnetic energy form the sun ionizes the comet. As the ions trail off, they fluoresce in the sunlight. Thus the blue ion tail always points away from the sun.

The white tail is created as the comet heats up in the solar atmosphere and material gets ejected from the body of the comet. The white tail moves opposite the direction of travel of the comet, much like the wake of a boat follows behind and indicates the direction of travel.

Comet NEOWISE made its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on July 3, 2020, at a distance of 0.29 AU or 27 million miles. This passage increases the comet's orbital period from about 4400 years to about 6700 years.

Its closest approach to Earth occurred on July 23, 2020, 01:09 UT, at a distance of 0.69 AU or 64 million miles while located in the constellation of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper.

In early July, the comet could be seen in the morning sky above the north-eastern horizon and below Capella. Seen from Earth, the comet was less than 20 degrees from the Sun between June 11 and July 9, 2020.

By June 10, 2020, as the comet was being lost to the glare of the Sun, it was apparent magnitude 7, when it was 0.7 AU or 65 million miles away from Sun and 1.6 AU or 150 million miles away from Earth.

When the comet entered the field of view of the SOHO spacecraft's LASCO C3 instrument on June 22, 2020, the comet had brightened to about magnitude 3, when it was 0.4 AU or 37 million miles away from Sun and 1.4 AU or 130 million miles away from Earth.

By early July, Comet NEOWISE had brightened to magnitude 1, far exceeding the brightness attained by previous comets, C/2020 F8 (SWAN), and C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS).

By July, it also had developed a second tail. The first tail is blue and made of gas and ions. There is also a red separation in the tail caused by high amounts of sodium. The second twin tail is a golden color and is made of dust, like the tail of Comet Hale–Bopp.

This combination resembles comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS). The comet is brighter than C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS), but not as bright as Hale–Bopp was in 1997. According to the British Astronomical Association, the comet brightened from a magnitude of about 8 at the beginning of June to −2 in early July.

This would make it brighter than Hale–Bopp. However, as it was very near to the Sun, it was reported as 0 or +1 magnitude and remained that bright for only a few days. After perihelion, the comet began to fade, dropping to magnitude 2. Its nucleus activity subdued after mid-July, and its green coma was clearly visible after that.

On July 13, 2020, a sodium tail was confirmed by the Planetary Science Institute's Input/Output facility. Sodium tails have only been observed in very bright comets such as Hale–Bopp and C/2012 S1 (ISON).

From the infrared signature, the diameter of the comet nucleus is estimated to be approximately 5 km or 3 miles. The nucleus is similar in size to Comet Hyakutake and many short-period comets such as 2P/Encke, 7P/Pons-Winnecke, 8P/Tuttle, 14P/Wolf, and 19P/Borrelly.

By July 5, NASA's Parker Solar Probe had captured an image of the comet, from which astronomers also estimated the diameter of the comet nucleus at approximately 5 km (3 miles

Later in July 2020, other observations were also reported, including those related to coma morphology and sodium emissions.

Attached are some images I shot of the comet over the last month, starting with morning shots from a remote site on the outskirts of Statesville, North Carolina and ending with some shots on a recent trip to Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway to image the comet under dark night skies.

Canon 60Da w/75/300mm Zoon at f/4.5 7nmm on my iOptron IEQ30 GEM Mount. 180 x 30 second subs at 1,600iso.

Captured w/BACKYARD EOS, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Was fighting dust & haze in the atmosphere being illuminated by a first quarter Moon.

I brought along my Astro-Tech 8" Imaging Newtonian Reflector and placed my Canon 60Da at prime focus, yielding an 800mm f/4 lens. As a result I was not able to capture the entirety of the comet's length.

I was shooting continuously for 45 minutes, from 4:48 am when the comet became visible until 5:33 when the sky was too bright to see the comet.

Here's a video. If you view it full screen you can see the dust in the sky blowing around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNqdpjR1D2U&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0hiZlS7u1mm9G2Re5WoVwuoxwcl5mN6cdASTGnTp1JVR4Jv6OvvFuvWhI

126 x 30 second images at 1600iso. Canon 60Da & Canon lens at 75mm focal length

Camera mounted on an iOptron IEQ30. Images captured using BACKYARD EOS.

Shot at Doughton Park Picnic area along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. About 4,000 feet elevation