Comet ZTF can still be found with binoculars or a small telescope and a good sky map (Photo: Reuters)
A rare green comet, unseen in the night sky since Neanderthal times, appeared in the sky this month.
It’s almost time to say goodbye as C/2022 E3 (ZTF) fades in the sky as it zooms away. However, there is still time to see it if you look in the right place.
Geometrically, Comet ZTF has passed closest to both the Sun and Earth and is now heading back toward the outer solar systems.
In its orbit around the sun, it hovered across the northern sky all month, having passed near Polaris and both the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper last month.
Comet ZTF is now visible to the naked eye and can be found with binoculars or a small telescope and a good sky map.
A good time to see the comet over the next week is after the sun sets but before the moon rises.
The comet was photographed between the two dippers in late January wearing an ion tail that extended more than 10 degrees.
The comet, identified last year, last exploded over Earth 50,000 years ago and astronomers say it will never be seen above Earth again.
The comet, with its distinctive green coma (the cloud of gas surrounding the icy rock core), passed around the sun in early January and was now heading back to space.
Many took advantage of the fact that comet C/2022 E3 was visible to the naked eye and shared their images on social media.
People used apps like SkyPortal and Stellarium that could locate C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on a star map.
Other skywatchers and amateur astronomers posted photos and videos of the comet. People with specialized telescopes and binoculars were rewarded with a better view.
However, Londoners hoping to see the comet were disappointed as cloudy conditions obscured their view.
It was the first time the comet had appeared over Stonehenge in the UK, as the last time the space rock was visible from Earth was about 50,000 years ago, long before the stone circle was built.
The comet reached its brightest around Feb. 1, its closest approach to Earth as it swings out of the solar system after its orbit around the sun.
The comet—called E3 for short—was first spotted by the Zwicky Transient Facility on March 2 this year.
At its closest, it came within about 26 million miles of Earth. That is more than 109 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
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