Comet C/2022 E3
Photo by Dan Bartlett/NASA
A rare green comet is making its closest approach to Earth. The comet, called C/2022 E3, spends most of its time in the outermost part of the solar system, the Oort Cloud, but makes its closest approach to Earth on February 1.
The flyby brings the comet within about 45 million kilometers of Earth. That’s about 120 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, or about one-fifth the average distance to Mars. Since he orbits the Sun only once in about 50,000 years, the Stone Age, when humans coexisted with Neanderthals, last passed through Earth.
These early humans could have seen C/2022 E3 in the skies, and in areas of the northern hemisphere with low light pollution, it is expected that this path would also be possible. It lies near Taurus, just east of Little Dipper, and may be visible to the naked eye on February 1 and 2. With a telescope, binoculars, or a camera with the long exposure option, it’s expected to remain visible until mid-Moon before sliding down toward the Oort cloud.
C/2022 E3 was first discovered by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility in California in March 2022, passing through the orbit of Jupiter to reach the solar system. Its coma, the cloud of gas surrounding the comet’s body or nucleus, appears green because of the carbon gas. But it’s not just carbon. This is a relatively rare type called diatomic carbon, which consists of two of her carbon atoms bonded together.
Several observations have been made as the strange comet leaves Earth’s neighborhood. alluded to It could either move so fast that it would leave the solar system entirely, or its orbit would be smashed by the planet’s gravitational pull, preventing it from passing again for millions of years.
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