A rare event. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), last observed near Earth 50,000 years ago, will be visible with simple binoculars this weekend until the end of the month, according to NASA.
“Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is visible with binoculars or a small telescope in the predawn sky to observers in the Northern Hemisphere,” the space agency said on its site.
The star “rapidly approaches the sky of the northern hemisphere during the month,” he says.
Avoid light pollution
Comet ZTF is already visible “with the naked eye” from France, according to the astrophysicist at the Côte d’Azur Observatory Éric Lagadec.
“Stay away from cities and light pollution to enjoy it,” he advises on Twitter.
The show will be visible exclusively at night, or rather “in the middle of the night” from next January 25 “once the Moon has set”, according to the magazine. sky and space. The medium adds that it will be visible in the sky near Ursa Minor.
NASA specifies that, if the star can be observed without binoculars in rural areas, a telescope is necessary to be able to observe its “green hair” and its “whitish dust”.
Closer to Earth on February 1
The comet, whose diameter is estimated to be around 1 kilometer, was discovered in March 2022 by the US Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) astronomical sky survey program, which operates the Samuel-Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.
“This comet passes close to the sun for the first time,” the science journalist Jean-Luc Dauvergne, from the magazine sky and space.
Scientists are closely following this star whose “materials on its surface have remained somewhat ‘in the freezer’ for billions of years,” explains the journalist.
The star should be closest to Earth on February 1. It will then be located (only) 42 million kilometers from the terrestrial globe, according to the magazine specialized in space issues.
Source: BFM TV
