Blazing Green Comet To Loom Beside Mars; How To See This Rare Cosmic Sighting?

The first since the Ice Age era, a green comet is set to fly by over earth and skim along Mars. Science Alert reports that both Mars and this green comet will be visibly beside each other in the Northern Hemisphere during the evenings of February 10 and 11. For stargazers from the United States, the moon will remain under the horizon during the earlier hours of the evening. This makes the dark skies look ideal.

Blazing Green Comet

This structure of dust and frozen gas has been dubbed Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) or Comet ZTF.

Live Science reports that this will be humanity's last opportunity to glimpse this celestial iceball before it blazes away at a speed of around 128,500 mph.

These kinds of comets are armed with two tail structures. One of these tails is made of dust that the solar wind blows off, while the other is primarily made of gas that trails behind the comet's ice clumps as it gets heated by the radiation of the sun.

The intriguing green comet was first observed by astronomers from the Zwicky Transient Facility in California in March 2022. Its unique glow is attributed to the diatomic carbon that was expelled when it woke. This kind of carbon takes in sunlight before releasing it as a glowing tail that is green.

How To Spot the Green Comet and Red Planet Together?

Compared to other stars in the night sky, Mars easily stands out because of its bright orange glow. Hence, during this period, it is easy to spot the cosmic ice ball once the red planet has been sighted.

Science Alert reports that the sighting should be easy to catch before going to bed.

In order to catch a glimpse of this rare cosmic sighting, Science Alert recommends individuals to move as far as possible from city lights. It is also necessary to at least have a pair of binoculars, since it will not be possible to catch this sighting with the naked eye alone.

However, the brightness of the comet is quite hard to estimate. While the comet could be seen through binoculars, it may be necessary to have a telescope at hand in order to spot the iceball beside Mars. To spot the pair, individuals should face west right after the sun sets and search for the light point that is colored orange and red. This can be found just on the right side of the Orion constellation. EarthSky reports that this light point is Mars.

Apps for stargazing could also be of help. After availing of such technological assistance, individuals can simply direct their binoculars to the specific area and look for the comet. The iceball should be situated over Mars.

Dan Bartlett, a photographer of the night sky, mentions how the comet would not be a speck but have a smudged, fuzzy, and irregular shape of a fan.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.