Locating this comet in the night sky is relatively simple. For observers under clear, dark skies, far from city light, it has even been visible without the help of these tools. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechĪt that time, it was roughly 42 million kilometres from us, or over 100 times farther than the Moon.Įven that far away, the comet was still bright enough to be visible using binoculars or a backyard telescope. The path of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) past Earth, with its closest approach on Feb 1, 2023.
It then swung past Earth for a relatively close encounter on February 1. Now named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), this comet apparently travelled out to the edge of our solar system and back since its last visit.Ĭ/2022 E3 (ZTF) made its closest pass around the Sun on January 12. A newfound comet has just passed by Earth, and it is still bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye.Īround 50,000 years ago, when Earth was warming up from the last ice age, Neanderthals and early Homo Sapiens may have gazed up into the night and marvelled as a bright comet tracked across the sky.įast-forward to March 2, 2022, when astronomers Bryce Bolin and Frank Masci spotted this very same comet while surveying the sky with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Palomar Observatory in California. If your weather forecast includes some clear nights over the next week or so, find a dark place to observe the sky and turn your gaze towards the northern constellations.
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