After visiting the Earth
50,000 years ago
in the time of the Neanderthals,
comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
is returning , ready to put on a show in the first weeks of the new year.
In fact, at the
end of January
it
could become visible to the naked eye
, but these days it is already in the sights of the amateur telescopes of amateur astronomers from all over the world, who are competing to get the perfect shot.
Just like the one created by the American Dan Bartlett and published by NASA, the first to show in detail the fluffy green hair, the ion tail and the long fan tail of dust.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) "is a
long-period comet
that was discovered last March 2 from the Zwicky Transient Facility in California", say the experts of the Italian Amateur Astronomers Union (UAI).
"The object was initially identified as an asteroid, but later observations later revealed that it had a highly condensed coma, indicating that it was a comet."
On
January 12th
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will reach the point of minimum distance from the Sun (166 million km), while the closest approach to the Earth (42 million km) will take place on February 1st 2023.
Since the day of its discovery, the comet "has significantly increased its brightness and is found to transit in the constellation of Corona Borealis in the skies before dawn", continues the Uai.
"
From January 17 to February 5,
the declination will be so high that the comet will become
circumpolar
, therefore it will be visible in the sky throughout the night. You can start observing it with binoculars, provided you are under dark skies".
Starting
from January 24
"the comet
could be visible to the naked eye
, and with comets the conditional is a must - specifies the Uai - but it will certainly be clearly visible with the aid of simple binoculars".