A comet is flying towards Earth, which was last seen by Neanderthals 50,000 years ago
Illustrative photo
CentralAsia (CA) – Over the next few months, an object last seen by Neanderthals could be spotted in the sky. We are talking about the comet C / 2022 E3 (ZTF), which was discovered on March 2, 2022 by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility.
Po estimated scientists, this comet makes a complete revolution around the Sun every 50 thousand years, which means that the last time it could be observed from Earth was during the Upper Paleolithic period, when people were just beginning to settle in Asia and Europe.
The comet is currently at a distance of 188 million km from Earth. On January 1, 2023, it reached its closest approach to the Sun. However, it will be possible to observe it with the naked eye somewhere in late January and early February 2023.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now approaching perihelion, which it will reach on January 12th. And closest to the Earth, at perigee, it will be on February 1. Around this point, the comet will be visible to the naked eye, although Sky at Night indicates that it will most likely appear as a speck of chalk dust on a chalkboard rather than a dazzlingly bright dot.
Scientists recently took the first detailed photograph of the comet, showing a brighter greenish coma and a yellowish dust tail. While the comet is still too faint to see without a telescope, it will soon be visible to the naked eye as it approaches Earth at a distance of about 41.8 million km.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was first thought to be an asteroid. It was discovered using a telescope only 1.2 meters high.
E3 will be the first comet visible to the naked eye (greater than magnitude 6) since Comet NEOWISE in July 2020.