The newly discovered Comet ZTF is making headlines as it makes its closest approach to Earth in 50,000 years and becomes visible to the naked eye. Some call it an “ultra-rare” and “bright green” comet, but does it live up to the hype?
Comet ZTF Facts
Comet ZTF was discovered on March 2, 2022, by a robotic camera attached to a telescope known as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Palomar Observatory in Southern California. ZTF scans the entire northern sky every two days, capturing hundreds of thousands of stars and galaxies in a single shot. Many comets have been discovered with this instrument. The latest is cataloged as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), Comet ZTF for short.
rare reason
Comet ZTF will travel 2.8 trillion miles and will make its closest approach to Earth on February 1, 2023 for the first time in 50,000 years. Orbital calculations show that Comet ZTF may never return.
Why ZTF is a green comet
The greenish color is likely due to molecules made up of two carbon atoms bonded together, die carbonThis unusual chemical process is primarily confined to the head, rather than the tail. Looking at Comet ZTF, its greenish hue can be very faint (if it is visible at all). Appearances of green comets due to dicarbon are fairly rare.
In recent images, the head (coma) appears distinctly green, followed by an impressively long, pale blush appendage (tail). But that’s what a camera doing a long exposure sees. The shade does not look very green to the naked eye.
when and where to watch Comet ZTF
From late January to early February, the ZTF can be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Track your night-to-night changes in position relative to background stars and constellations with a reliable star map. Here are the dates and approximate locations:
January 12-14
Look towards the constellation crown before sunrise.
January 14-20
Look in the direction of Taurus before sunrise.
January 21st
The comet is visible in the night sky (previously it was only visible early in the morning). Look north, above, and to the left of the Big Dipper.
January 22-25
Look near the constellation Draco (Dragon).
January 26-27
Look a few times east of Little Dipper’s bowl. On the evening of the 27th, it will be about 3 degrees above and to the right of Kochab, the brightest of his two outer stars in the Big Dipper bowl.
January 29-30
Look towards the North Star.
February 1
Look near the constellation Sierra.
February 5th
Look toward the bright yellow-white star Capella (in Gemini).
February 6th
Look inside the triangle known as the star pattern of the “children” of Auriga. It’s overhead at around 8pm local time.
February 10
Look at the upper left 2 degrees of Mars.
Note: If you live in a big city or a remote suburb, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to observe this comet. Even for those with dark or starry skies, finding the ZTF can be a little difficult.
Watch Comet ZTF Live Now:
More information about viewing ZTF
As for tails, comets can emit two types of tails: dust and gas. The dust tail is much brighter than the gas tail and spectacular to the eye. This is because dust is a very effective reflector of sunlight. The most spectacular comets are dusty and can produce long, bright tails, making them wonderfully impressive celestial spectacles.
Gas tails, on the other hand, are much more faint and glow with a bluish tint. The gas is activated by the sun’s ultraviolet light, causing its tail to glow much like black light illuminates phosphorescent paint. Unfortunately, the gas tails produced by most comets are long and stringy. , looks very faint. Impressive in photos, but visually overwhelming. And that is what we are currently seeing in ZTF.
Finally, when the ZTF is at its brightest in late January and early February, it must compete with another object, the Moon. During that same time frame, the Moon will be near full ( full snow moon February 5th). A full moon blazing like a giant spotlight in the night sky makes it even more difficult to see relatively dim and diffuse objects like Comet ZTF.
Other visible comets
Dozens of comets can be seen in the night sky tonight. However, most of these can only be seen with moderately large telescopes. You’ll also need a good star map and precise coordinate locations to know where to point your instrument to see one of these in action. Most amateurs refer to such comets as “faint blurs.” This is because it is nearly identical to what you see through the eyepiece. A faint, blurry ball of light. These are known as “common comets”.
Occasionally, 2 or 3 times in 15 or 20 years, there will be a bright or “great comet”. These are the types that excite those of us who don’t have binoculars or telescopes. that!” Such comets tend to be much larger than average. Most of these have a core or nucleus less than 2-3 miles in diameter. However, some can be up to several times larger.
In general, comets get brighter as they get closer to the Sun. Larger objects closer than the Sun-to-Earth distance (92.9 million miles) tend to be very bright. Good examples are Comet Hale-Bopp in the spring of 1997 and Comet Neowise in the summer of 2020 (discovered by the Robotic Space Telescope).
So which category does the ZTF fall into? In many ways it’s a fairly common comet, but compared to most other faint fuzzies, the ZTF is very bright.
Related article
Comets, Asteroids, Meteors – The Differences
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Point the “green” comet ZTF in the sky?
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