Neanderthal’s comet returns in January
The birth of Jesus was announced by Halley’s Comet. In January, another one passes by the Earth from the Neanderthal era. A reason to see and photograph it.
Comets are very fascinating celestial objects. Many astronomy enthusiasts or even people attracted by the event point telescopes and binoculars towards the sky to be able to see them. Even better if you could photograph their splendid tail.
Common stars visible in the starry sky and how to recognize them
Effectively 5 are the celestial objects that can be observed in a starry sky. Looking up to the sky we can admire the various stars. We distinguish them because they shine and some are even variable in colour. It is the magic of their light that passes through the earth’s atmosphere.
Comets are very fascinating celestial objects. Many astronomy enthusiasts or even people attracted by the event point their telescopes and binoculars towards the sky to be able to see them.
We can see that some do not shine and do not change color. Those are not stars but planets, which keep a fixed light in the sky. Generally one can admire Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Sometimes some streaks of light cross the sky. If the phenomenon repeats itself every night at the same time, then they are satellites that reflect sunlight. If instead it is a single event, it is about meteorites that enter the earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
Finally there are comets that seldom pass. Their elliptical path is very wide and often take millennia to complete. They are distinguished by the long streak they leave behind, especially when approaching the sun. This is the case with the start of the new year comet.
In January the Neanderthal comet returns, also visible from Italy
In January 2023 the opportunity to see a comet repeats itself and it is also tempting. A comet is approaching, whose lucky spectators were Neanderthal men, about 50,000 years ago, at its last passage. This is exactly why she was baptized the Neanderthal comet or comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
In Italy as in other countries it is already visible to astronomers and enthusiasts equipped with a telescope. On January 12, it will be at its closest point to the sun. The moment when it could also be visible to the naked eye will be February 1 or 2. On these dates the comet, after having circumnavigated the sun, will pass close to the earth at only 44 million km.
So in January Neanderthal’s comet returns and is about 10,000 times brighter today than it last passed by us. This will be the time to aim your binoculars at the night sky. We’ll go look for it in the vicinity of Mars, pointing to the constellation of Orionespecially towards its giant star Betelgeuse.
On these dates the comet, after circumnavigating the sun, will pass the earth at only 44 million km.
How to photograph it
To photograph the comet we absolutely have to get yourself a stable tripod. Let’s mount our camera on it and then get a good telephoto lens. The best ones in this case are mirrored ones, just like telescopes. But even the classic telephoto lenses they are fine.
For we will take the shot of only a few seconds. Not therefore as when we photograph the sky to have the domed effect of the stars, with their long and circular stripes. This is because the comet is new faster than the sky. The important thing is to have of the beautiful pictures of its magnificent tail.
