The Bright Green Comet C/2022 E3: The First Comet From the Distant Outer Solar System, According to a New Explainer from NASA
A comet known as C/2022 E3, marked by its bright green nucleus and long faint ion tail, will be on display in the Earth sky later this month — possibly for the first time ever or at least for thousands of years.
The icy celestial object will make its closest pass by Earth between February 1 and February 2, around 26 million miles to 27 million miles (42 million kilometers to 44 million kilometers) away, according to EarthSky.
The brightness of comets tends to be unpredictable, but this one’s current behavior is promising, according to a recent explainer from Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Its glow may be visible to the naked eye, though only in dark night skies. Observers with binoculars or telescopes have a greater chance of witnessing the rare speck of light.
“It’s still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system,” Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a video posted this week.
What is the big deal? We know very little about C/2022 E3, but it appears that its long orbit takes it from the outer expanses of the solar system and then in towards the sun, according to The Planetary Society.
Astronomers first spotted the brightening outburst back in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility on Palomar Mountain in California. At the time, the comet was not in the air of Jupiter.
Cometary Skywatching of a Comet in 2023: Predictions from the Virtual Telescope Project at the CERN Synchrotron Telescope
It’s possible it may gain enough energy to fling out of our solar system, or it might remain bound to its elliptical orbit for another trip around the sun.
A comet is about to go past Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. It was last visible in the night sky during the Stone Age.
The best time to view a comet is when the moon is set after midnight in the Northern Hemisphere. The space object will be more difficult to see for those in the Southern Hemisphere.
The coma is an envelope surrounding a comet as it passes close to the sun, causing its ice to fall or turn to gas. When viewed through telescopes, the comet looks fuzzy.
If clouds or inclement weather get in the way of skywatching, The Virtual Telescope Project will share a livestream of the comet in the skies above Rome. And don’t miss the other celestial events to see in 2023.
Who is She? How to Find Them in a Crowded Universe by Searching Beyond the Big Dipper’s Corner with the Green Light
Who is she? A potentially unprecedented celestial happening. You should swap in the blue light for the green light. It’s a connection to history and a connection to the universe that won’t sell you something.
“You can find the comet by looking south of the Big Dipper, near the constellation Camelopardalis. If you can find the North Star, you can then trace directly south of that to that.”