The spectacle of space opens before our eyes: in the coming weeks Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF will be close to the Earth and the Sun. It will pass for the first time in 50 thousand years, according to the scientists who discovered it.
The astronomers of the Zwicky Transitional Facility, Part of Palomar Observatory at the California Institute of Technology, discovered C/2022 E3 ZTF in March 2022. The discovery occurred when it was in the orbit of Jupiter, 643 million kilometers from the Sun.
A comet is a space element formed by frozen gases, dust and rocks, that orbits around the Sun. As explained Newsweek, as it approaches the sun, the comet is attacked with increasing radiation, releasing gases and debris.
Thanks to this a bright atmosphere is born around the comet, known as a “coma”, and two tails of gas and dust.
How did they determine that the last time it had passed near Earth was 50,000 years ago? By its orbital period, calculating time and trajectory. The researchers indicate that it has not come close to our planet since the Upper Paleolithic, the time of the first Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
When and how can we see comet C/2022 E3 ZTF?
Although C/2022 E3 ZTF can be observed with telescopes today, The closest it will be to the Sun will be this Thursday, January 12 (11:00 p.m. Eastern United States, Colombia, and Peru; 12:00 a.m. Venezuela on Friday, January 13; 1:00 a.m. Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay).
On Earth it will be on February 1 and 2 at night / early morning, according to the time of each country, 42 million kilometers from us.
both times the comet can be observed with binoculars or a telescope, but You will also be followed directly on this YouTube channel.
Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom, spoke to Newsweek about Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF.
“As C/2022 E3 ZTF gets closer to Earth, it can become visible to the naked eye as early as the second half of January, if there are good (weather) conditions,” says Massey. “The current prediction is that the comet will reach magnitude +5 in early February.”
If the brightness predictions are correct, C/2022 E3 ZTF will be the first comet that we will be able to observe with the naked eye from NEOWISE in 2020.