Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – In early 2023, the Earth will be visited by a comet that once visited our planet during the Ice Age. This comet is probably bright enough to see with the naked eye.
The comet, dubbed C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is currently circling the inner solar system. It will reach its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, on January 12, and then pass in front of the Earth.
The journey will trigger the phenomenon of perigee, in which the moon’s position touches closest to our planet. This event is scheduled for February 1st and 2nd.
If the comet continued in its current bright position, it could be visible in a dark sky with the naked eye. However, this is difficult to predict. But on the one hand, even if C/2022 E3 (ZTF) fades, it can still be visible with binoculars or a telescope for several days at close range.
According to NASA, quoted by SpaceOn Wednesday (4/1/2023), observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky as it moves in a northwesterly direction during January. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be visible to observers in the Southern Hemisphere in early February 2023.
Observers should look for C/2022 E3 (ZTF) as the moon dims in the sky, with a new moon on Jan. 21 offering a possibility, weather permitting. According to the Starlust website, the comet will be in the constellation Camelopardalis as it approaches.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the comet has a period of about 50,000 years. This means that it is 160 million kilometers from the sun on January 12 and 42 million kilometers from Earth on February 2.
This comet was last approached the Earth during the Paleolithic era. This means that the last humans to see C/2022 E3 (ZTF) were the first homo sapiens who lived during the last glacial period or “ice age”. Likewise, few people could tell about the last Neanderthals, since the species went extinct around 10,000 years after last perihelion C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
(tib)
