Green comet will appear in the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years

One comet recently discovered will make a appearance in the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years old.

Discovered on March 2, 2022 by astronomers using the wide-field camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego, California, the comet will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12, according to NASA. US space agency.

Named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the comet has an orbit around the sun that passes through the outer reaches of the solar system, which is why it took a long journey — and a long time — to pass Earth again, according to the Planetary Society.

Northern hemisphere astronomy enthusiasts using telescopes and binoculars should look down on the Northeast horizon just before midnight to locate it on Thursday (12), according to EarthSky.

The icy celestial object, which has steadily grown larger as it approaches the sun, will subsequently make its closest pass to Earth between February 1 and 2, about 42 million kilometers away, according to EarthSky. As the comet approaches Earth, observers will be able to spot it near the bright star Polaris, also called the North Star, and it should be visible in the early evening.

The comet should be visible through binoculars in the morning sky to Northern Hemisphere skywatchers through most of January and Southern Hemisphere into early February, according to NASA.

Depending on how bright it becomes in the coming weeks, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) could even become visible to the naked eye in dark skies in late January.

The comet can be distinguished from the stars by its tails of dust and energized particles, as well as the bright green mane that surrounds it. A coma is an envelope that forms around a comet as it passes close to the sun, causing its ice to sublime or turn directly into gas. This makes the comet appear fuzzy when viewed through telescopes.