This means it may be observable with the naked eye, in dark skies away from light pollution, around the end of January and the beginning of February. The faintest magnitude that can be seen with the naked eye in good dark-sky conditions is roughly 6.5.Īt its brightest, the magnitude of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is predicted to be about 5.0. The magnitude of Sirius, the brightest star, is -1.4 Polaris, the North Pole star, is 2.0. The higher the number, the fainter the object. The brightness of an object for observers on Earth is measured by apparent magnitude. The head of the comet can glow green due to the presence of a chemical called diatomic carbon. Sometimes-but not always-they develop distinctive tails of gas and dust. When comets are close to the Sun, they warm up. Their orbits around the Sun carry them from the far, outer parts of the solar system to the inner solar system, where they can become visible from Earth. The Green Comet will be at its closest to Earth-and at its brightest in our skies-on February 1.Ĭomets are small bodies made of ice and dust. It reached its closest point to the Sun on January 12. A bright Moon will make comet observations more difficult.įind the Moon, planets, and stars on our Night Sky Map What Is the Green Comet?Ĭ/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a green-ish comet that was discovered on March 2 last year. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays)Ī circle indicating the position of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has been added to this image from our Night Sky Map, looking north from New York at 21:00 (9:00 pm) local time on February 1 (click to zoom in).
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