For the first time in 50,000 years, a brilliant green comet will be seen in the nighttime sky above Earth.
The freshly found comet, dubbed C/2022 E3 (ZTF) for short, will reach its closest approach to the sun on January 12 and will then start to appear in the morning sky in the Northern Hemisphere.
However, it will be visible in Australia starting in early February when it approaches Earth on February 2 at a distance of only 42 million kilometers.
The streaming tails of dust and energetic particles that differentiate comets from stars are what will make this one shine a vivid green. The comet’s ice covering rapidly transforms into gas when it passes by the sun, and this is what causes the light.
The comet, which was first spotted in March of last year by astronomers in southern California using the Zwicky Transient Facility’s wide-field survey camera, travels through the far reaches of the solar system on each orbit of the sun, which explains why it has taken so long for it to pass by Earth again.
About 50,000 years ago, when there were only two million people on the earth and the Neanderthals were still alive, it last passed over our blue planet.
Although infamously erratic, the comet has been progressively brightening as it approaches the sun, and should be simple to identify with binoculars, according to NASA.
According to NASA, if we’re fortunate, it may even become visible to the human eye under low-light conditions.
»First green comet in 50,000 years«