Scientists and lovers of astronomical phenomena are eagerly awaiting the passage of comet “C / 2022 E3 (ZTF)” this week near the sun, as it is the first time in 50 thousand years, and it will be possible to see this newly discovered comet with the naked eye at the end of this January.
The discovery of this small rocky and icy body, with an estimated diameter of about one kilometer, dates back to March 2022, and was monitored by the Zwicky Transient Facility, which operates the Samuel-Oshin telescope at Palomar Observatory, California, USA.
The comet was observed as it passed Jupiter’s orbit, and is currently on its way towards the sun, and will come closest to it on Jan. 12, according to astronomers’ calculations.
Nicolas Biver of the Paris-BSL Observatory told AFP that the celestial body would therefore be at a distance from the sun about 10 percent greater than the distance that separates planet Earth from it (about 150 million km).
When a comet approaches the sun, the ice in its nucleus sublimates, i.e. it passes from a solid state to a gaseous state, leaving a long trail of dust that reflects sunlight.
This dust, which looks like shiny hair, is what you’ll be able to see from Earth as the comet approaches.
The comet reaches its peak brightness “when it’s closest to Earth,” said Thomas Prince, a Caltech physics professor who works for ZTF.
However, this phenomenon will be less dramatic than the passage of comets Hale-Bopp in 1997 and New Wise in 2020, which are much larger.
The star can be seen easily with binoculars, and perhaps even with the naked eye during part of the night if lunar radiation is not strong and the sky is free of light pollution.
How to view comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
Astrophysicist Nicholas Beaver is hoping for a “nice surprise” that makes the comet’s brightness “twice as bright as expected”.
The best timeslot to observe the comet will probably be January 21 and 22 and the week after.
During this time the comet will pass between the star constellations ‘Ursa Minor’ and ‘Ursa Major’, before heading towards the Southern Hemisphere and then returning to the far reaches of the solar system, which is believed to be its main location .
According to current models, comets come from two reservoirs: the Kuiper Belt behind the orbit of Neptune, or the Oort Cloud, which is a large theoretical region located one light-year from the Sun, within the limits of the gravitational field.
“The tilt of its orbital chart suggests it is a long-period comet originating from the Oort Cloud,” Beaver said.
It won’t be the first ice comet to pass close to the sun, as it already had a similar experience 50,000 years ago.
Then the comet returned in the opposite direction, but did not get as far as the Oort cloud. This time, it is likely to be “permanently removed from the solar system”.
Its last passage will be an opportunity for scientists to understand more about the formation of comets, provided by the observations achieved by the “James Webb” space telescope.
“We will monitor it from all angles. It is true that it is not the comet of the century, but we are happy to see such comets every year or two, because we consider them traces of the formation of the solar system,” said Beaver.
As for Thomas Prince, he commented that this “rare visitor” would bring “information about the inhabitants of the farthest part of the farthest planets in Earth’s solar system.”
