Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomical Society, stated that the people of the Earth are on a date to witness the comet C / 2022 E3 (ZTF) with the naked eye, on the first of next February, and it is a long-term comet that orbits the sun once every 50 thousand years and was discovered by the Zwicky facility.
Sharjah 24 – WAM:
Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomical Society, stated that the people of the Earth are on a date to witness the comet C / 2022 E3 (ZTF) with the naked eye, on the first of next February, and it is a long-term comet that orbits the sun once every 50 thousand years and was discovered by the Zwicky facility.
He added that the comet – which astronomers discovered on March 2, 2022 – will reach its perihelion point on January 12 at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km) and will be at its closest approach to Earth on February 1 at a distance of 0.28 AU (42 million km). Pointing out that it is possible to spot the comet in the sky between January 14 and February 16, 2023, as the comet is expected to become 6 degrees brighter than fate, and thus become visible to the naked eye.
He mentioned that it can be observed with the naked eye in dark places away from the lighting of cities, and it will be in the form of a very small piece of cloud, its color is greenish, and most likely it will not show a tail (by the naked eye) like other comets.
Al-Jarwan continued that the comet, as it approaches the Earth, will appear near the northern celestial pole and will fall within the constellation of the Giraffe, which is close to the Great Bear, and on February 6 it will pass near the star Al-Nair Al-Ayouq, and during the days of February 10 and 11, the comet will pass 1.5 degrees from Mars and during the period from 13 to 15 February will pass in front of the Hyades star cluster, which is close to the star Al Nir Aldebaran in Taurus.