Skywatchers, grab your binoculars: You might soon have the chance to catch a glimpse of a comet that will, for the first time since the Ice Age, pass close to Earth.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is on a voyage through the inner solar system, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration says. It approached closest to the sun Thursday, and is expected to be closest to the Earth Feb. 2.
While it's expected to be observable with "binoculars or a small telescope all month," NASA says, comet brightness is expected to be rather unreliable.
"Comets are notoriously unpredictable," NASA says, "but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it'll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it's just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies."
The comet was first discovered inside the orbit of Jupiter by astronomers in March, using a "wide-field survey camera" at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. The comet has an orbital period of 50,000 years -- '"meaning it hasn't approached Earth since the Upper Paleolithic period, the time of very early Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals," Space.com says.
How to See the Comet
According to NASA, the comet will be visible all month -- but especially in pre-dawn skies as it makes its closest approach to Earth.
Local
"Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly toward the northwest during January," NASA says. "It'll become visible in the Southern Hemisphere in early February.
A post from The Planetary Society says that the comet "will most likely look like a faint, greenish smudge in the sky rather than a bright object." However, in the weeks surrounding the comet's closest approach to Earth, the post says, "it may be visible with the naked eye or with binoculars."
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"This comet isn't expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020," NASA declares. "But it's still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system."
