The new year has just begun, but the universe is already starting to make history in 2023. A comet discovered less than a year ago has come within billions of miles of its presumed origin at the edge of our solar system and will only be visible for a little time. several weeks during what may be the recorder’s only appearance.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was first seen in March 2022 as it crossed the orbit of Jupiter. According to NASA, it is believed to be a long-lived comet that originated in the Oort cloud, the outermost region of Earth’s solar system that looks like a “large thick-walled bubble made of ice chunks of space debris” that can grow larger of a mountain. The inner edge of this region is estimated to be between 2,000 and 5,000 astronomical units (AU) from the sun, between 186 billion and 465 billion miles.
This means that C/2022 E3 (ZTF) made a rare once-in-a-lifetime journey to approach Earth.
The most famous long-period comet has only been seen once in recorded history because its orbital period is so beautiful. longNASA said: “An unidentified comet with countless long periods has never been seen by human eyes. Some orbit so long that the last time they passed through the inner solar system, our species did not yet exist.”
A new comet of this type, C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, has already visited the inner solar system and It approached Mars in 2014But according to the space agency, it won’t return for about 740,000 years.
said Jessica Lee, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich News week That Comet E3 could be a similar situation.
“We don’t yet have an estimate of how far it will be from Earth – estimates vary – but if it returns, it won’t be for at least 50,000 years,” he said. “… some projections are that the comet’s orbit is so eccentric that it’s no longer in orbit, so it won’t come back at all and will continue to move.”
Now, the newly discovered comet E3, seen with a Bright green zombie and a “short, wide” powder tail, set to Make its approach closer to the sun On January 12, it will reach its closest point to Earth on February 2.
Astrophotographer Dan Bartlett snapped this photo of the comet in December from his backyard in California. He said he could see “a complicated tail structure” in the comet’s plasma tail, and “it’s getting better.”
If all goes well and the comet continues to shine towards it at this time, NASA says it will be easily visible with the help of binoculars. It is also possible to be seen with the naked eye away from city lights. NASA said those in the northern hemisphere will be able to see the comet early in the morning, while those in the southern hemisphere will be able to see it in early February.
The agency added, “This comet is not expected to be a place for Comet NEOWISE to return in 2020.” “But it’s still a great opportunity to make personal connections with icy visitors from the far outer solar system.”
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