One comet last seen 50,000 years ago it will make a new visit to Earth, when it reaches its closest point to the Sun in the early hours of Friday (13).
The object, called C/2022 E3 (ZTF)can be observed in the northern hemisphere with the aid of binoculars or telescopes on the scheduled date, but will be most visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere on February 2, when it will get closest to our planet, at a distance of 42 million kilometres.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will visit Earth again after 50,000 yearsSource: NASA/Reproduction
OR comet it was discovered by the Palomar Observatory (California) in March 2022, when it was already moving within the Solar System, especially on Jupiter. Its orbital period of 50,000 years, calculated by NASAreveals that the last to witness its passage were the Neanderthals and the first Homo sapiens, who shared the planet during the ice age.
So far, little is known about the characteristics of the ice visitor, seen glowing green in the skies. So your next “greeting” should help astronomers piece together information regarding its origin, size, and composition. However, this will also be the last opportunity to study C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in detail, as after February 2, the rare comet is expected to depart for deep space and never return.
Since here in Brazil we will not be able to directly observe the first appearance of the comet, on Friday those interested will be able to verify its passage through The Virtual Telescope Project. The project will air live, starting at 1 am on the 13th, on his official site And channel without Youtube.
