The green comet C/2022 E3 is currently at its closest distance from Earth – 42 million kilometers, which is 100 times the Earth-Moon distance. Contrary to what was written in the press, given the comet’s orbit, it cannot be said that it passes by the Earth once every 50,000 years, one of the comet’s discoverers explained to HotNews.ro.

The comet can also be seen online. For example, The Virtual Telescope project goes live on YouTube on February 2nd at 6:00 AM.

On these nights, observing the comet will be complicated by the fact that the moon will shine in the sky almost all night, and on February 5, the full moon phase comes.

The comet was discovered on March 2, 2022 by astronomers Bryce Bolin and Frank Muskie at the Zwicky Transient Facility Observatory in Palomar, California. The name ZTF comes from the initials of the observatory that used to discover the comet. You can read more about how to observe the comet here

On the night of February 1-2, the comet is at a distance of 42-44 million km, which is its closest distance to Earth, and there is a chance that it will be visible to the naked eye if it is clear and if you are outside urban areas. Binoculars would be helpful, and there are several apps for Android or iOS that can help you find the comet, provided you first properly calibrate your smartphone so that the app accurately pinpoints the location of the various celestial bodies.

There will be a few times when the comet will be easier to find because it will pass by bright objects: On February 5, it will fly past the star Capella, one of the brightest stars in the winter night sky. On February 11, the comet will pass by Mars, and on February 14, it will pass by the star Aldebaran.

When viewed through a telescope, or rather a telescope, the comet should appear green due to its chemical composition.

Much has been written about the fact that this comet passed by the Earth 50,000 years ago and that it will return again in several tens of thousands of years.

It does not. Bryce Bolin, one of the two discoverers of C/2022 E3, answered a question from HotNews.ro that from the comet’s orbit it can be concluded that it originates from a region called the Hortus cloud, which is huge. space littered with the debris of icy comets left over from the formation of the Solar System. He also says that given the comet’s orbit, it cannot be said to pass by Earth once every 50,000 years.

And astronomer Adrian Shonka explained it to HotNews.ro: “This comet is not periodic, it will never visit us again, I don’t know where this information came from that it will visit us after 50,000 years. It is not a periodic comet and will never return to the Sun. Now we see it for the first and last time, this is its first pass by the Sun, but also the last.

It will NOT be one of the brightest comets visible from Earth. One of the brightest comets in the last 150 years was seen from Spain in 1882, and the brightest comet seen by humans in the last century was called Ikeya-Seki, which could be admired especially from Japan in 1965.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com