Eagle-eyed stargazers will get a chance to see a green comet that occurs only once in a generation in the coming weeks.
The colored comet, designated C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was spotted in March of last year while orbiting Jupiter.
According to NASA, the ice ball will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12th.
Then, between late this month and early February, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will zoom past our planet, lighting up the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years.
Check out this month! C/2022 E3 (ZTF), discovered last March while in orbit around Jupiter, will make its closest approach to the Sun on January 12th and to Earth on February 2nd
KEY FACTS: KOMET C/2022 E3
Last seen from Earth: The Ice Age
Closest approach to the sun: January 12th
Closest approach to Earth: February 2nd
Next visible: 50,000 years time
Closest Approach Distance: 26.4 million miles (42.5 million kilometers) from Earth
Discovered: March 2022
Discovered by: The Zwicky Transient Facility in California
Will it be visible to the naked eye? Possibly
Where to Look: In the morning sky, to the northeast
Stargazers can tell the difference between the comet and the surrounding stars as a streaky trail of dust follows it.
A green glowing coma, i.e. a cloud of gas, will hang around it.
This gas is formed when the comet passes close to the Sun, causing its ice to change state.
Comets are known for being unpredictable, but C/2022 E3’s brightness, according to its current trend, should make it easy to spot with binoculars or a telescope.
However, those without special equipment shouldn’t worry as it can even be visible to the naked eye if the sky is dark enough later this month.
But Byrce Bolin, who spotted the comet last year, “is secretly hoping[s] it will dissolve” because “that’s where the more interesting science is.”
He told the Boston Globe, “Comets are the cats of the solar system; they do what they want.
“Like cats, they are fluffy. Comets have been observed to exhibit peculiar behaviors, such as fragmentation or dissolution.
“But there’s not a really strong correlation between distance from the Sun and the type of decay events that occur. It could break on its way in before it ever gets near the sun, or even after.’
The NASA postdoctoral fellow said he and Caltech’s senior scientist, Frank Masci, were at the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory when artificial intelligence indicated the comet was unknown.
If the naked eye can spot this newly discovered comet, it will mark the first time NEOWISE has flown past Earth in 2020, although it won’t be nearly as spectacular.
Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this comet continues its current trend in brightness it should be easy to spot with binoculars or a telescope
NEOWISE, officially known as C/2020 F3, was visible in July 2020, leaving behind a long, foggy history
NEOWISE, officially known as C/2020 F3, was visible in July 2020, leaving behind a long, foggy history.
The fireball could be seen when it was nearly 64 million miles (103 million kilometers) from Earth.
However, neither C/2022 E3 nor NEOWISE will be as bright as the 1997 Hale-Bopp Comet, which outshone the Moon in the night sky.
Astronomers don’t expect Comet C/2022 E3 to visit Earth again in the next 50,000 years, having last been visible during the Ice Age.
This puts the last sighting of the comet in the time of the Neanderthals and around the Palaeolithic Age.
The reason the comet takes so long to pass Earth is because it has an orbit around the sun that passes through the outer reaches of the solar system, according to the Planetary Society.
Northern hemisphere observers will find the comet in the morning sky as it moves rapidly northeast-northwest, passing between the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper in January
In terms of passing our planet, it will not come close in any way. In fact, it will be 26.4 million miles (42.5 million kilometers) closest to Earth on February 2nd.
Northern hemisphere observers will find the comet in the morning sky as it moves rapidly northeast-northwest, passing between the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper in January.
Preston Dyches of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a video shared by the US Space Agency: “This comet is not expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was in 2020.
“But it’s still a great opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the far outer solar system.”
In March 2022, astronomers discovered the new space rock using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. It’s pictured here in the center of this image
However, stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere will have to wait a little longer to catch a glimpse, as Comet C/2022 E3 won’t be visible to them until early February.
The new space rock was discovered in March 2022 after scientists used the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California.
Since then, the new long-period comet has brightened significantly, sweeping across the northern constellation Corona Borealis at dawn.
In December, scientists managed to take the first detailed photograph of the new comet, revealing its lighter greenish coma and yellow dust tail.
Comets are made of ice, gas and rock – often referred to as giant space icebergs – that originate in the outer Solar System and travel in long orbits.
The comet reaches the Sun this month before looping and making its closest approach to Earth
The other large type of space rock, called asteroids, is usually metal or rocky and can come from anywhere in the solar system — including a large group of asteroids found between Mars and Jupiter.
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Explained: The difference between an asteroid, meteorite and other space rocks
An asteroid is a large boulder left over from collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt.
A comet is a rock covered with ice, methane, and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further out of the solar system.
Astronomers call a meteor a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up.
This debris itself is called a meteoroid. Most are so small that they evaporate in the atmosphere.
When one of these meteoroids makes it to Earth, it’s called a meteorite.
Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites usually come from asteroids and comets.
For example, when Earth passes the tail of a comet, much of the debris in the atmosphere burns up, forming a meteor shower.