Rare green comet C/2022 E3 will fly past Earth soon

The comet, which last passed Earth about 50,000 years ago, is approaching again and will make its closest pass on February 2, after which it will be visible to the naked eye.

A rare green comet is about to fly past Earth. The comet, dubbed C/2022 E3, spends most of its time at the farthest reaches of the solar system, in the Oort cloud, but it will make its closest approach to Earth on February 2.

A close pass would bring the comet closer to about 45 million kilometers from Earth, about 123 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, or just over half the distance to Mars. It only orbits the Sun once every 50,000 years or so, so its last pass by our home planet was in the Stone Age, when humans still coexisted with Neanderthals.

These early humans may have been able to see C/2022 E3 in the sky, and it is expected that this will be possible with this passage in areas of the northern hemisphere with little light pollution. It is located near the constellation Bootes, just east of Ursa Minor, and can be seen with the naked eye on February 1 and 2. With a telescope, binoculars or extended exposure camera, it is expected to remain visible into the middle of the month before slipping back towards the Oort cloud.

C/2022 E3 was first detected by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility in California in March 2022 as it entered the solar system beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Its coma, a cloud of gas surrounding the comet’s main body or nucleus, appears green due to carbon dioxide. However, it’s not just carbon – it’s a relatively rare type called diatomic carbon, which is made up of two carbon atoms bonded together.

Once the strange comet leaves Earth’s vicinity, some observations hint that it may be moving fast enough to eventually leave the solar system altogether, or its orbit will be altered by the gravity of the planets so that it won’t pass by. again for millions of years. This may be the last chance to find him.

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