By Dr. Lisa Will, Resident Astronomer at the Fleet Science Center
There is a naked eye comet in our evening sky right now, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Comets are small, mostly icy objects that orbit the Sun in highly eccentric orbits. When they near the Sun, they sublimate, meaning some of their ice is heated into vapor, causing the tails that distinguish comets in our minds.