As early as 2023, Earth will be visited by a newly discovered comet that may be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.
The comet named C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is currently passing through the inner Solar System. It will reach closest to the Sun, or perihelion, on January 12, and will then cross Earth between February 1 and February 2, making its closest pass to our planet, its perigee.
If the comet continues to brighten at present, it may be visible to the naked eye in dark skies. It’s difficult to predict for comets, but even if C/2022 E3 (ZTF) fades, it should still be visible with binoculars or a telescope for several days around its close approach.
related: The 12 Best Night Sky Events to Watch in 2023
according to nasa (opens in new tab), observers in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to spot the comet in the early morning sky as it moves in a northwesterly direction during January. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will become visible to observers in the Southern Hemisphere in early February 2023.
Observers should look for C/2022 E3 (ZTF) when the Moon is low in the sky, with the new moon on January 21 providing such an opportunity, weather permitting. According to the website Starlust (opens in new tab)The comet will be in the constellation Camelopardalis during its closest approach.
If you’re hoping to see C/2022 E3 (ZTF), our guides to the best binoculars and best binoculars are a great place to start. If you want to photograph the night sky, check out our guides on how to photograph the moon, as well as our best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography.
According to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), comets have a period of about 50,000 years. This means that before coming within about 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) of the Sun on January 12 and within 26 million miles (42 million kilometers) of Earth on February 2, the last time it came so close was overhead. Palaeolithic period.
This means that the last humans who could see C/2022 E3 (ZTF) were early Homo sapiens Survived during the last ice age or “ice age”. Therefore, some may also say of the last Neanderthals, as this species became extinct about 10,000 years after the last subsaur of C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
Of course, Neanderthals and early humans may not have known what C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was, and the comet was identified much more recently than the last ice age. The comet was observed in early March 2022 by the Wide-field Survey Camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility.
Initially appearing to be an asteroid, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which at the time was inside the orbit of Jupiter, soon began to glow like a comet. At the time of its discovery, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) had a magnitude of 17.3, brightening to magnitude 10 in November, and was expected to eventually reach magnitude 6.
Current images of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) show its coma, a surrounding halo of gas and dust, glowing with a greenish tinge and a long but faint comet tail extending from its main body .
Editor’s note: If you snapped Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), and want to share it with Space.com readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location spacephotos@space.com,
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook,