A recently discovered comet will shoot past Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks for the first time in 50,000 years and could be visible to the naked eye.
The comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is named after the the California-based Zwicky Transient Facility, which first spotted it passing Jupiter in March 2022.
The comet will pass nearest to the Sun on January 12 and is expected to pass nearest to our plant on February 1. It could be easily spotted with a good pair of binoculars or even with the naked eye, according to news agency AFP.
Stargazers can see the comet provided there is not much light from the moon, or the sky isn’t that hazy.
What is the C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet?
The C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is made of ice and dust, and has a greenish auro around it, Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory, told AFP.
There is also a possibility that it will be “permanently ejected from the solar system” after this, Biver said.
It is estimated to a diameter of nearly one kilometer. It is not a very big comet, but because it will come close to the earth.
There is also an element of surprise in viewing the comet, as it could be “twice as bright as expected.”
The comet has brightened substantially since its discovery but is still too dim to see without a telescope, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had said earlier.
The comet has reportedly come from the Oort Cloud, which is a vast sphere surrounding the solar system. This cloud is home to several mysterious icy objects.
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