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On Feb. 1 , a bright - green comet name C/2022 E3 ( ZTF ) will make a penny-pinching access to Earth for the first time in 50,000 year . swoop within 26 million miles ( 42 million kilometers ) of our planet , the comet will provide a rare dark - sky spectacle last watch when modern man shared our major planet withNeanderthals .
But you do n’t have to await until February for your chance to glimpse the comet ; it is already visible in the late night and early morning sky . lotus-eater have been follow the comet ’s way for weeks now and got aparticularly good look at it on Jan. 12 , when the comet made its close approach to the sun ( a phenomenon called perihelion ) .
Some comets appear to glow green when ultraviolet sunlight vaporizes carbon molecules in the comet’s head
As of Jan. 30 , skywatchers are reporting that the comet has a luminosity value of order of magnitude +4.6 , intend it is slightly brighter than the faint objects visible to the naked eye . The comet ’s brightness may increse further as it swoops nearer to Earth .
Here ’s everything you need to jazz about the green comet ’s itinerary , its trajectory and where to see it over the come weeks .
The green comet’s path
When astronomers first detected C/2022 E3 in March 2022 , the comet was cannonball along through thesolar systemaround 399 million mi ( 642 million km ) from the sun , or just within the orbit of Jupiter . Even though the physical object was lightheaded — about 25,000 times fainter than the faint stars visible to the naked eye , according to Live Science ’s sister siteSpace.com — the researchers before long made out a distinct tail , or coma , proving the object was indeed a comet rather than anasteroid . ( asteroid are rocky objective , while comet are made of ice and dust particles that gradually vaporize as the comet approaches the Dominicus , creating a visible trail . Both type of objects orbit the sun . )
By Jan. 12 , 2023 , the comet had zoom along nearly 300 million naut mi ( 482 million km ) closer to Earth , becoming seeable in the dark sky near the northerly constellation Corona Borealis . While making its close approach to the sunlight , a blow of solar particles called a coronal mass forcing out swept over the comet andripped off part of its tail , dazzling stargazers .
From there , the comet has continued moving westward across the sky . On the dark of Jan. 26 and 27 , the comet was seeable just east of the Little Dipper ’s arena . By Feb. 1 , when the comet pee-pee its closest approach to Earth , it will appear near the constellation Camelopardalis , not far from the Big Dipper .
A NASA image showing the comet’s predicted path during the end of January and beginning of February.
A few years later , on Feb. 5 and 6 , the comet will pass across the Nox sky to the west of the star Capella and then seem to figure the configuration Auriga . From there , it will descend toward Taurus , becoming ever dimmer as it moves away from Earth , back out toward the edge of the solar system .
The green comet’s trajectory
Prior to the comet ’s late jaunt near our sun , C/2022 E3 ’s orbit took it far beyond our solar system for roughly 50,000 years . Astronomers are n’t certain exactly how far the comet will travel after leaving Earth behind this time , but the consensus seems to be that C/2022 E3 is on course to allow our solar system exclusively .
After that , humankind may never see it again : The previous computation hint that the comet is make a motion on a parabolical orbit , meaning it is not stick to to our solar arrangement and is unlikely to come near it ever again , fit in to Space.com . It ’s possible that the graveness of some unidentified deep - space physical object could spay the comet ’s orbit slightly , couch it back on a course that runs through our solar system . But if this happens , it will still likely be million of eld before C/2022 E3 has another close brush with Earth .
So enjoy the comet now , while you could .
Green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), seen here as a black smudge, as it appeared on Dec. 22, 2022.
Viewing the green comet
When the comet swoops past Earth on Feb. 1 , it will be about as bright as the dimmest stars in the Nox sky . However , the comet will not calculate like a penetrating , pointed star but rather a diffuse , glowing fuzz that may spread out its light over an region as enceinte as the full lunar month .
Stargazers living in city or other light - polluted orbit will have a surd time viewing the comet . Joe Rao , a skywatching editorialist for Space.com and guest lecturer at New York ’s Hayden Planetarium , advises would - be comet watchers to direct to the dark spot potential , appropriate your eyes to adjust to the darkness for 20 to 30 minute , then look toward the North Star , Polaris , which is located at the end of the Little Dipper ’s handgrip .
Using just your unaided heart , look for the comet ’s glowing aura around this region of the sky . It may be well-heeled to spot the comet this manner rather than by trying to pinpoint it with binoculars or a scope , accord to Space.com . However , once you ’ve recognise the comet , switching to a telescope or binoculars is recommended for the in force opinion .
TV audience using telescopes can ascertain the fleeceable comet ’s up - to - date coordinates on the skywatching websiteThe Sky Live .
Viewers in light - contaminated area who may miss the comet can watch a live stream of its near attack on Feb. 1 good manners of theVirtual Telescope Project .
Why is C/2022 E3 green?
The comet itself is n’t green , but its head teacher does seem to shine dark-green thanks to a fairly rarified chemical reaction . The glow belike comes from diatomic carbon ( C2 ) — a elementary molecule made of twocarbonatoms bonded together . Whenultraviolet lightfrom the Lord’s Day breaks this atom down , it emit a dark-green glow that can last for several solar day , grant to a 2021 bailiwick in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
This eery lighter disappears before making its elbow room to the comet ’s fag end , or comatoseness , which is made of gas . That gasolene is once again a termination of solar actinotherapy — in this case , sunlight causes part of the comet to sublimate , or transition from a solid into a gas without accede a smooth state . That gas blotch behind the comet , often glowing profane from the ultraviolet brightness .
