How and When to See the Green Comet from Florida in 2023 – NBC 6 South Florida

A comet last appeared in the solar system about 50,000 years ago should be visible in the Florida sky with a telescope this week, NASA reports.

The comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a name that NASA acknowledges is a mouthful, passes through the inner solar system.

It will be closest to Earth on Thursday, Feb. 2, and according to NASA, all you’ll likely need is binoculars.

“Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it will be easy to see with binoculars, and it is very possible that it will become visible to the naked eye under dark skies,” said NASA’s Jet Propulsion. Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.

Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the comet in the morning sky, NASA say. Those in the southern hemisphere will be able to see it in early February.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

The newly discovered comet was first seen in March 2021 when it was in Jupiter’s orbit.

It was last in the solar system during the Ice Age Upper Paleolithic, but whether it was then visible from Earth is not known. It could have passed outside the orbit of Jupitersays NASA.

It was discovered by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility with its wide-field survey camera.

“Since then, the new long-period comet has brightened considerably and is now hurtling across the northern constellation of Corona Borealis in the early morning sky,” NASA said.

In a telescopic image from December 19, the comet’s brighter greenish coma or cloud around its core can be seen.