At the end of January it could be distinguished with the naked eye in the sky a comet that in its previous passage through the vicinity of Earth was seen by Neanderthals. Its about C/2022 E3 (ZTF)that will approach our planet after a long absence of 50,000.
It is a small rocky and icy body, with a diameter of just one kilometer, discovered in March 2022 by the program Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)who operates the telescope Samuel-Oschin of the Palomar Observatoryin California.
The body was detected as it passed through the orbit of Jupiter Y This week it will pass close to the Sun.. It will reach its perihelion, that is, the closest point to the Sun, on January 12, according to astronomers, who were able to calculate its trajectory after months of observation.
When a comet approaches the Sun, the ice that contains its nucleus turns into a gaseous state and releases a long tail that reflects the light of the king sun. This bright trail is what can be seen from Earth, initially in the northern hemisphereas C/2022 E3 (ZTF) gets closer.
The comet will shine in all its splendor “when it is closest to Earth,” he explained. Thomas Prince, Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, who works for ZTF. It will be less spectacular anyway than Hale Bopp (1997) or neo wise (2020), which were much larger.
With a good pair of binoculars, or even with the naked eye, it can be seen at night.provided that the sky is clear, there is no light pollution and the moonlight does not disturb. “Maybe we’re lucky and it will be twice as bright as expected”ventured the astrophysicist Nicholas Biverof Paris Observatory-PSL.
WINDOW
The best observation window will be the weekend of January 21 and 22, and the following week. During that period it will pass between the constellations of the Little Bear and the Great Bear, so it will only be visible in the northern hemisphere. Later it will be possible to see it in the southern hemisphere, to then return to the confines of the solar system.
50,000 years ago, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) already visited the interior of the solar system and passed close to Earth. This time, it will probably “get out of the solar system once and for all,” Biver said.
Scientists hope to learn a little more about the composition of comets, in particular thanks to the powerful space telescope. James Webb.
“We are going to observe it everywhere. It is not the comet of the century, but we are happy to be able to observe comets like this every one or two years, because we consider them to be vestiges of the formation of the solar system,” explained the astrophysicist.
