The interplanetary interloper dubbed Comet NEOWISE has brightened surprisingly in the pre-dawn skies in the northwest. Officially designated Comet C/2020 F3, NEOWISE was first spotted on March 27 by astronomers using the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope. Because comets stream gas and dust in the solar wind as they approach the Sun, predicting their brightness can be tricky once they are first spotted.

NEOWISE Sunrise: July 10