It is a special celestial event that people can observe right now: The Comet C/2022 E3 passes the earth and has reached its closest point to the earth on February 1st. When he last came near the earth 50,000 years ago, the Neanderthals were still living in Europe. The most important questions and answers about comet sighting:
When is the comet best seen?
When the sky is clear, the best time to see the green comet is in second week of February around February 8th.
However, the moon is quite full in the sky at the beginning of February, which can make it difficult to see, especially in the bright cities. With a binoculars or a telescope the chances of seeing the comet are very good. In any case, you should weather report see if it’s worth checking out.
Where can you see the green comet in the night sky?
In the first week of February, the comet moves on from the north celestial pole in a southeasterly direction through the constellation “Little Dipper” (“Little Bear”). To the February 8th around the comet is then near the Sterns Capella in the constellation Auriga as well as near the Mars, which can be easily recognized by its bright and slightly reddish radiation. In the evening, both celestial bodies can be found high up in the sky towards the south and then migrate towards the west during the night.
If you can’t find the comet as a layman, you shouldn’t be disappointed. Sven Melchert, chairman of the Sternfreunde, assumes that the comet will only be seen immediately by those who have experience in observing the sky and have tools such as telescopes or binoculars.
How bright will the tail star get?
The comet is estimated to reach an apparent magnitude of 5.4. This roughly corresponds to the limit of visibility for the naked eye. Some experts go loud ARDAlpha assume that it could shine even at 4.5 mag.
In binoculars, the comet appears as a muddy patch, shimmering greenish.
Why is the comet called C/2022 E3 (ZTF)?
The celestial body got its name because it was first seen by a program called the Zwicky Transient Facility from an observatory in the United States last year.
According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), it is around one kilometer in size, but currently has a coma measuring around 50,000 kilometers, a kind of particle shell. This occurs when the comet approaches the sun and heats up, causing particles to break loose from its ice and migrate into the tail.
what is a comet
Coming from the extreme and frigid edge of the solar system, comets are celestial bodies that were not consumed in planet formation. According to the DLR, they consist of dust grains, organic molecules and, because of their low temperature, frozen gases. The high proportion of volatile matter distinguishes them from asteroids.
They are sometimes pushed out of their original orbit by gravity or collisions and then end up close to the sun or the earth. Most recently, comets C/2021 A1 Leonard and C/2020 F3 Neowise flew past Earth.