Soon you will be able to see it with your own eyes.
According to Jakub Tokarek from the Institute of Astronomical Observatory, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered in March 2022. Soon there will be a chance to see it with your own eyes. On January 12, it began approaching the ground. On the night of February 1-2, it will be closest to our planet, at a distance of 42 million km, which is “only” 110 times farther than our Moon.
“Thanks to this proximity and the current activity of the comet, there will be a chance to see the object without the help of optical instruments – but we must be under an exceptionally dark sky, such as in the Bieszczady Mountains or the Jizera Mountains. In turn, from suburban areas, we can easily see the comet through binoculars or an amateur telescope” – informs Jakub Tokarek.
“We encourage you to observe, because such phenomena do not happen every day. The last time we were able to observe the comet C / 2020 F3 (Neowise) in the summer of 2020. We won’t see a green comet (so called because of its color) after moving away from Earth for a long time – C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet, last time it was near the sun 50,000 years ago!” – he adds and reports that the comet is currently moving between the constellations of Ursa Minor and Dragon, on January 29 and 30 it will be near the Polar Star.
“Then it will continue its journey on the border of the constellations of Giraffe and Lynx, and on February 5 it will approach the brightest star in the constellation of Charioteer – Kapella” – concludes Tokarek.
