A cold visitor from a distant solar system.
Long-period comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is visible today in moderately sized telescopes and, if bright enough, is easy to spot with binoculars and possibly with the unaided eye in moderately dark skies.
You may remember Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) that appeared in the early hours of December 2021, or Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) in July 2020 that survived its close encounter with the Sun long enough to provide night vision . also.
The C/2022 E3 (ZTF) offer should be somewhere in between the two. Not as brilliant as Newy but easier on the eye than Leonard.
The challenge with observing comets is that they are most visible when they are closest to the sun because the evaporating ice pushes the dust out creating a sunlit tail. When objects in the sky are closest to the sun, they are also low on the horizon near sunrise, causing them to get lost in the sun’s glare.
This is the only thing ZTF’s comet does. Its journey through the solar system takes it on a much higher path in our sky, carrying it above the horizon during the darkest hours of the morning.
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To view C/2022 E3 (ZTF) look northeast in the pre-dawn hours. Unlike previous comets, it currently has an extremely dense coma, a cloud of incandescent gas surrounding the comet, and a short, thin tail.
The comet will be exactly halfway between the horizon and the straight line (Zenith). Look between the constellations Corona Borealis and Hercules.
The comet will travel north throughout the month.
When it reaches its closest point to the Sun on January 12, it will be about midway between the left hand of Hercules and the C-shaped constellation Corona Borealis. Over the next week, the comet will move between Hercules and, si hopes, it will get brighter the closer it gets. get.
The best time is probably January 26, when the comet appears above Ursa Major, although February 2, when comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is closest to Earth.
The comet has a magnitude of 7.6 and is expected to be a magnitude of 6, more than four times as bright.
