Astrophotographer Lee Wan-su (54) and his son Siwoo (20) announced on the 23rd that they succeeded in capturing a photo of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) with a green ion tail in the night sky of Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do on the 19th.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee said, “I thought that the New Year’s Eve or New Year’s night before New Year’s Day (22nd) was an opportunity to see ‘Jingaek’ (珍客) who came for the first time in 50,000 years.” there was,” he explained.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee said that they took a picture of the comet C/2022 E3 using a 106mm refracting telescope (FSQ106edx4/645RD/ZWO EAF) and a mono camera for 1 hour and 22 minutes from 2:30 am to 4 am on the 19th.
C/2022 E3 is a long-period comet that was first captured by the Zwicky Instant Capture Facility (ZTF), a wide-area astronomical observation instrument at the Palomar Observatory in California, USA, passing near Jupiter in March last year.
The comet is about 1 kilometer in diameter, smaller than comets seen with the unaided eye so far, but passes closer to Earth.
In particular, as this comet passed the closest point to the sun on the 12th and got closer to the Earth, it became possible to observe it with the naked eye in the night sky depending on the region.
The comet is expected to reach its maximum brightness on the 1st of next month as it passes the closest point to Earth. However, it may be difficult to observe this comet because of the moonlight due to the full moon in early February. After that, the 10th of next month, when this comet passes near Mars, is considered a good day for observation.
According to the astronomy community, C/2022 E3 is composed of ice and dust and has a greenish color, and is believed to come from the ‘Oort Cloud’, a theoretical region surrounding the tip of the solar system.
The last time the comet passed close to Earth was when Neanderthals, extinct fossil humans, were still roaming Europe. This comet has spent most of its time at more than 2,500 times the distance between Earth and the sun, and it is expected that it will come back into the solar system in 50,000 years.
Lee and his son, who succeeded in filming C/2022 E3 this time, say that they have been observing astronomical objects and filming together. His father, Wan-su, obtained a doctorate in astronomy last year, and his son, Si-woo, is currently studying at the Department of Astronomy and Astronomy at Chungnam National University.
Lee’s father and son said, “I hope that this comet will bring peace to everyone.”