When to spot ‘once in a lifetime’ Green Comet for first time in 50,000 years

Other notable comets in history: The Great Comet of 1680

The comet was discovered on Nov. 14, 1680, by German astronomer Gottfried Kirsch.

What makes this comet special is it was the first comet discovered by a telescope.

It was reported from Albany, N.Y. that the comet could be seen in daylight passing above the sun.

The comet was deemed not visible to the naked eye by early February 1681. 

View the green comet livestream

The Cosmosapiens Youtube channel is hosting a live stream of the Green Comet’s arrival.

The caption below the video reads, “Green Comet also known as C/2022 E3 is getting brighter to become 2023 the best comet to watch live. Don’t miss this unique celestial event.”

This is the first time the comet is passing Earth in 50,000 years.

The last time the Green Comet was visible from Earth was when Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens roamed the planet.

Clear skies for Chicago tonight as the green comet is on its way

The Twitter account @AdlerPlanet has shared good news for Chicago residents ahead of the green comet’s arrival.

In a Twitter post, the account said, “You better believe it, Chicago! Looks like there will be clear skies for viewing the #GreenComet during its closest point to Earth on 2/1 when it will be brightest for us to see.”

Below the info is a map informing residents where they can view the comet from February 1 to the 8th.

Look out for a beautiful comet this week

Starting this week, a comet will pass by Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. Make sure to find a nice scenic view with a clear spot in the sky to view this ‘once in a lifetime’ comet.

Ohio residents might not have an optimal view of the comet

The weather forecast is in for tomorrow and residents in Ohio who want a view at the ‘once in a lifetime’ comet will be disappointed.

Chief Meteorologist Marshall McPeek of ABC6 News said clouds are in the First Warning Forecast for that time.

He added, “We will likely see some breaks in the clouds overnight, but it won’t be the best stargazing weather, If you want to see the comet, you’ll have to catch it in the brief, clear spots.”

Comets have a relationship with the sun

Halley, a comet, travels at a distance from the sun of 89million kilometers, which is a safe distance for most comets, reports Nasa.

But some comets, known as sungrazers, collide with the sun head-on or approach it so closely that they fragment and vanish.

The icy nucleus of a comet and its tails

Every comet has a tiny, frozen region known as a nucleus that is typically only a few kilometers across, according to Nasa.

Icy pieces, frozen gases, and dust particles are embedded in the nucleus.

As a comet gets closer to the Sun, it warms up and creates an atmosphere or coma.

The comet’s ices turn into gases due to the Sun’s heat, which causes the coma to grow.

The coma might last tens of thousands of miles.

Its dust and gas can be blown away from the Sun by the pressure of sunlight and fast solar particles, occasionally creating a long, dazzling tail.

In reality, comets have two tails: an ion (gas) tail and a dust tail.

Where they come from

Beyond Neptune, where a swarm of dark comets orbits the Sun in the region of Pluto, there is a disc-like belt of frozen bodies, according to an idea put forth by astronomer Gerard Kuiper in 1951, Nasa reported.

The short-period comets are formed when these frozen objects are occasionally pulled by gravity into orbits that bring them closer to the Sun.

They orbit the Sun in fewer than 200 years, and because they have already gone by, their appearance is frequently predictable.

Long-period comets, many of which originate from the Oort Cloud region roughly 100,000 astronomical units from the Sun, are less predictable.

It may take these Oort Cloud comets up to 30 million years to make one round of the Sun.

How comets get named

It might be challenging to name comets, according to Nasa. In most cases, comets are named after the person or spacecraft that discovered them.

Only in the past century was this International Astronomical Union recommendation produced.

For instance, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was given that name because Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy discovered it as their ninth short-period comet.

Many comets include LINEAR, SOHO, or WISE in their names because spacecraft are particularly good at finding them.

Comas, explained

The comet’s “coma” is the vast and incredibly thin atmosphere created by the jets of gas and dust that are so expelled.

A gigantic “tail” that points away from the sun develops as a result of the solar wind and radiation pressure of the sun acting on the coma.

Water makes up to 90 percent of the volatiles that escapes from the comet’s nucleus when it is within 3 to 4 astronomical units of the sun, making up the majority of the coma’s composition.

What comets are

A comet is a tiny, frozen body in the Solar System that warms up and starts to emit gases as it approaches the Sun.

This process is known as outgassing. This results in an apparent atmosphere or coma, and occasionally a tail as well.

These occurrences are caused by how the solar wind and solar radiation interact with the comet’s nucleus.

The size of comet nuclei varies between a few hundred meters and tens of kilometers, and they are made up of loose clumps of ice, dust, and tiny rocky particles.

The tail may extend beyond one astronomical unit, and the coma may be up to 15 times the diameter of the Earth.

Since the beginning of time, numerous cultures and religions have witnessed and documented comets.

Antitail on the Green Comet

A third “anti-tail” that seemed to defy physics by emanating in the opposite direction recently surfaced on the uncommon object, surprising scientists once more, according to a report from LiveScience last week.

The typical description of comets is that they have two tails, one comprised of dust and the other of gas.

However, on January 31, it appeared to have grown a third streak that was stretching in the other direction—toward the sun—instead of trailing behind.

The phenomena, despite it previously being a part of the comet, isn’t actually a part of it, according to astronomers.

Depending on the comet’s trajectory, dust left in the comet’s aftermath that is lit by the sun when Earth crosses its orbital path may appear to have an extra tail.

Greenery seen in the skies in some areas

NASA reports that some people in the Northern Hemisphere have already caught a glimpse of the green flash.

People who are interested in space have already posted some breathtaking pictures of the comet’s vivid green glow.

What comets are made up of

The main components of comets include dust, ice, and gases.

However, determining the precise material makeup of the comet can aid researchers in learning more about the formation of our solar system.

The comet’s layers disintegrate under the Sun’s heat, making it easier for scientists to investigate its composition the closer it travels to the sun.

If clouds get in the way of viewing parties

The Virtual Telescope Project will webcast a live feed of the comet in the skies above Rome if clouds or bad weather prevent skywatching.

But photos from the James Webb Space Telescope will not be a possibility.

The Telescope will be keeping an eye on the green comet, but it won’t be taking any pictures, Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory told France 24.

Easily distinguishable

The comet’s streaking tails of dust and charged particles, as well as the brilliant green coma that surrounds it, can be used to tell it apart from the stars, according to CNN.

As a comet approaches the sun, a coma builds around it, causing its ice to sublimate, or transform instantly into gas.

When viewed through a telescope, the comet appears hazy as a result.

Optimal viewing recommendations

Observers will be able to see the comet as a dim green smudge close to the bright star Polaris, popularly known as the North Star, as it approaches Earth.

Due to their chemistry and present places in orbit, comets reflect light in a variety of colors.

The best time to watch the comet is in the early morning hours after the moon has set for those in the Northern Hemisphere after midnight, CNN reports.

For people in the Southern Hemisphere, it will be more challenging to see the space object.

Using binoculars or a telescope will make it easier to observe C/2022 E3 (ZTF), while it may be visible to the unaided eye in the dark depending on its brightness, per the outlet.

Watch the comet with your own eyes

The comet will reach its zenith in the sky at about 9.45pm on February 2 above the northern horizon, according to the astronomy blog In the Sky.

Shortly after dusk, it’s meant to initially appear, and just before 6am, it will vanish.

Visibility is naturally obstructed by light and clouds. Which viewers will be in the finest stargazing positions will depend on local forecasts, New York Post reported.

Viewfinders should be directed toward the Camelopardalis constellation.

How the Green Comet got its name

The name of the comet refers to its blazing green tail, which is caused by a chemical reaction between the comet’s diatomic carbon molecules (C2) and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Astronomers from the National Science Foundation’s Zwicky Transient Facility in California made the initial discovery of it less than a year ago.

Scientists studying what comet is made out of

The James Webb Space Telescope will be keeping an eye on the green comet, but it won’t be taking any pictures, Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory told France 24.

The $10billion telescope will instead look at what exactly the comet is made up of.

Comets are mostly made up of dust, ice and gases.

But figuring out the comet’s exact material composition can help scientists uncover more about how our solar system came to exist.

Closest pass between today and tomorrow

The ice cosmic object will pass by Earth at its closest point between February 1 and February 2, from a distance of 26million to 27million miles, EarthSky reported.

The comet will still be further from Earth than the moon is even at its closest approach.

Experts predict comet’s next move

Researchers at the Zwicky Transient Facility, part of the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory, spotted the comet when it just inside Jupiter’s orbit – around 399million miles away from the Sun.

Scientists expect the comet to pull away from Earth and zoom back into deep space after making its closest swoop toward our planet at the beginning this month.

Meet C/2022 E3

The comet was found on March 2, 2022, by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera of the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California.

The comet was closest to the sun on January 12, Nasa reported.

According to The Planetary Society, the comet with the designation C/2022 E3 (ZTF), per Nasa, has an orbit around the sun that travels through the outer regions of the solar system, which explains why it has taken so long for it to pass by Earth once more.

Once-in-a-lifetime comet passing Earth

Starting this week, a comet will pass by Earth for the first time in 50,000 years.

When Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens roamed the planet, the green comet last made this journey.

What is a comet?

The US space agency has explained what comets are.

Nasa says: “Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust roughly the size of a small town.

“When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets.

“The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the Sun for millions of kilometers.”