The comet, which will fly past the Earth for the first time in 50 thousand years, will also be visible over Slovenia these days. It will be brightest, and therefore most visible, on February 1.
The newly discovered comet, which will fly past the Earth and the Sun for the first time in 50,000 years, can already be seen in the sky above Slovenia these days. It will reach maximum brightness and thus visibility on February 1, when it will be “only” 42 million kilometers from Earth, the president of the Orion Astronomical Society told STA today Igor Žiberna.
Green comet comes closest: first time in 50 thousand years and last time in history?
According to Žiberna, the comet, which astronomers first noticed last March when it flew past Jupiter, is currently visible in the constellation of the Little Bear, where it will be until the night of January 28-29. Between January 30 and 31, it will fly about 10 degrees away from Severnica, then it will enter the constellation Giraffe, and on February 4 and 5 it will be in the constellation Voznik. “All the aforementioned constellations are currently high in the sky and clearly visible,” said Žiberna.
The comet has been visible here since December with better binoculars. It was also well visible last week, when there was some clear sky in the morning, but lately the cloudy weather has made viewing difficult. Currently, the comet is on the verge of being visible with the naked eye, “of course from a dark location, where there is no light pollution”, says Žiberna.
As of January 17, the comet is also circumpolar, meaning it is visible on the open horizon all night. In the evening, it will be well visible even in mid-February.
The comet, with the scientific name C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was first spotted at California’s Palomar Observatory by the Zwicky Transient Facility program, which maps the universe. The comet is expected to make its closest approach to the Sun on January 12, and it will be closest to Earth on February 1.
After 50 thousand years, a green comet will appear in the sky
Scientists have calculated that this comet last flew past the Earth about 50,000 years ago, which is the estimated orbital period based on the data on the comet’s year. After it leaves our Solar System, due to the nature of its orbit, it will very likely never return to it, or it will not happen for millions of years.
The comet is composed of ice and dust with a greenish aura, and its diameter is estimated to be about one kilometer, he explained, according to AFP Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory. This means that it is much smaller than Comet Neowise, the last comet visible to the naked eye, which flew by Earth in March 2020, and Hale-Bopp, which flew by Earth in 1997 and was about 60 kilometers in diameter.
Follow N1 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Download our app: available for Android and iOS.
