NYT SCIENCE: How to Watch the ‘Green Comet’ in Night Skies
By Shannon Hall
Section: Science
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 20, 2023 at 02:00AM
The comet has been steadily gaining brightness and will make its closest approach on Feb. 2, when it comes within 26.4 million miles of the planet — 110 times the distance to the moon. From the Northern Hemisphere, the comet is likely to be faintly visible to the naked eye.
But you don’t have to wait until February to spot this rare visitor. The coming weekend may offer favorable viewing opportunities with a pair of binoculars when the new moon creates darker skies.
What is the comet’s name?
The comet is known as C/2022 E3 (Z.T.F.) because astronomers discovered it in March 2022 using a telescope on Palomar Mountain in California called the Zwicky Transient Facility (or Z.T.F.).
At the time, the cosmic interloper was just inside the orbit of Jupiter and roughly 25,000 times dimmer than the faintest star visible to the naked eye. But Z.T.F., with a camera that has a wide field of view, scans the entire visible sky each night and is well-suited to discover such objects.
What are comets, and why is this one green?
Comets are clumps of dust and frozen gases, sometimes described by astronomers as “dirty snowballs.” Most are believed to originate from the distant, icy reaches of the solar system where gravitational agitations sometimes push them toward the sun — an interaction that transforms them into gorgeous cosmic objects.
When they leave their deep freeze, the heat from the sun erodes their surfaces, and they start spewing gases and dust until they host a glowing core, known as the coma, and a flamelike tail that can stretch for millions of miles.
“They’re alive,” Laurence O’Rourke, an astronomer with the European Space Agency, said. “When they’re far from the sun, they’re sleeping, and when they get close to the sun, they wake up.”
C/2022 E3 (Z.T.F.), for example, is now glowing green because ultraviolet radiation from the sun is absorbed by a molecule in the comet called diatomic carbon — that is, two carbon atoms fused together. The reaction emits green light.
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By Shannon Hall
Section: Science
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 20, 2023 at 02:00AM
The last time the comet got this close to Earth was during the Stone Age. This weekend’s new moon offers a strong opportunity to see it.
A green-hued comet from the outer solar system is set to swing through Earth’s neighborhood in the coming days for the first time in 50,000 years.The comet has been steadily gaining brightness and will make its closest approach on Feb. 2, when it comes within 26.4 million miles of the planet — 110 times the distance to the moon. From the Northern Hemisphere, the comet is likely to be faintly visible to the naked eye.
But you don’t have to wait until February to spot this rare visitor. The coming weekend may offer favorable viewing opportunities with a pair of binoculars when the new moon creates darker skies.
What is the comet’s name?
The comet is known as C/2022 E3 (Z.T.F.) because astronomers discovered it in March 2022 using a telescope on Palomar Mountain in California called the Zwicky Transient Facility (or Z.T.F.).
At the time, the cosmic interloper was just inside the orbit of Jupiter and roughly 25,000 times dimmer than the faintest star visible to the naked eye. But Z.T.F., with a camera that has a wide field of view, scans the entire visible sky each night and is well-suited to discover such objects.
What are comets, and why is this one green?
Comets are clumps of dust and frozen gases, sometimes described by astronomers as “dirty snowballs.” Most are believed to originate from the distant, icy reaches of the solar system where gravitational agitations sometimes push them toward the sun — an interaction that transforms them into gorgeous cosmic objects.
When they leave their deep freeze, the heat from the sun erodes their surfaces, and they start spewing gases and dust until they host a glowing core, known as the coma, and a flamelike tail that can stretch for millions of miles.
“They’re alive,” Laurence O’Rourke, an astronomer with the European Space Agency, said. “When they’re far from the sun, they’re sleeping, and when they get close to the sun, they wake up.”
C/2022 E3 (Z.T.F.), for example, is now glowing green because ultraviolet radiation from the sun is absorbed by a molecule in the comet called diatomic carbon — that is, two carbon atoms fused together. The reaction emits green light.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/article/green-comet-watch.html
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