Name C/2022 E3 (ZTF) it is little known by humans today. Perhaps the Neanderthals did not know it either, but it was our ancestors who witnessed the passage of this green comet during the Paleolithic.
In fact, this comet was barely discovered in March 2022, all thanks to its path: it is heading towards Earth and can be seen with the naked eye from our planet thanks to its powerful brightness.
According to a report published on the website of D.W.NASA and the CalTech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) stated that, between January 12 and February 2, the comet will first approach the Sun (160 million km) and then circle towards Earth (42 million km).
What is the exact age of the comet?
According to the JPLthe comet has a period of about 50,000 yearswhich means that the last humans that could have sighted C/2022 E3 (ZTF) were probably the first living homo sapiens and Ice Age Neanderthals.
The NASA graphic below shows the orbital path of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) at its closest approach. Currently, it is still 1.1 AU (astronomical units) from Earth and on February 1 this distance will decrease to 0.28 AU.
It is important to note that the term “near” is certainly relative: 1 AU is equivalent to 149,597,870,700 meters, that is, approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, while 0.28 AU corresponds to about 40 million kilometers.
According to JPL, sky watchers in the northern hemisphere will be able to see the comet in the morning sky in late January. Observers from the southern hemisphere, for their part, will be able to see it in early February. If the comet continues to shine as bright as it is now, it could be visible to the naked eye in dark skies.