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A green comet will cross Earth’s sky for the first time in more than 50,000 years

This image, obtained from the NASA website on January 6, 2023, shows Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) detected by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility’s Wide Field Camera in early March of this year. Font: AFP or licensors | Photographer: DAN BARTLETT

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comet “C/2022 E3 (ZTF)”coming from the far corners of the solar system will cross the earth’s sky again after a long absence of 50,000 years, and can even be seen with the naked eye at the end of January.

This is a small rocky-ice body with a diameter of only 1 km, discovered in March 2022 by the program Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)which operates the Samuel-Oshin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.

It was discovered while passing through orbit Jupiterand this week will pass by Sun.

It will reach its perihelion, that is, the point closest to the Sun, on January 12, according to astronomers who were able to calculate its trajectory after several months of observations.

When the comet approaches Sunthe ice containing its core turns into a gaseous state and releases a long tail that reflects the light of the king-sun.

This bright trail will be visible from Earth initially in the northern hemisphere. “C/2022 E3 (ZTF)” come closer.

The comet will shine in all its splendor “when it is closest to Earth,” explains Thomas Prince, a professor of physics at Caltech at ZTF.

In any case, it will be less spectacular than Hale-Bopp (1997) or Neowise (2020), which were much larger.

With good glasses, or even with the naked eye, it can be seen at night, provided the sky is clear, there is no light pollution, and no moonlight interferes.

“Perhaps we will be lucky and it will be twice as bright as expected”suggests astrophysicist Nicholas Beaverfrom Paris Observatory-PSL.

Best Viewing Window

The best observation window will be the weekend of January 21 and 22 and next week.

During this period, it will pass between the constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Later it can be seen in the southern hemisphere, to then spread to the ends of the solar system, where it was probably born.

According to current models, comets come either from the Kuiper belt, beyond the orbit of Neptune, or from the Oort cloud, a huge theoretical region located almost a light year from the Sun, at the edge of its gravitational field.

Given its orbit, this comet “originally comes from the Oort cloud”according to beaver.

50,000 years ago “C/2022 E3 (ZTF)” He has already visited the bowels of the solar system and passed close to the Earth.

probably this time “He will leave the solar system once and for all”Beaver says.

Everything will be ready for contemplation, and scientists hope to learn a little more about the composition of comets, in particular, thanks to the powerful space telescope. James Webb.

“We will watch her everywhere. It’s not the comet of the century, but we’re lucky to be able to see such comets every year or two because we think of them as the remnants of a formation. solar system”.explains the astrophysicist.

AFP

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Source: RPP

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