Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: A recently discovered comet will soon appear in the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years.
The celestial object which was discovered on March 2, 2022, will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12, according to NASA.
The space agency said that sky-watchers in the Northern Hemisphere would be able to view it through binoculars in the morning sky during most of January while those in the Southern Hemisphere in early February.
Comet may be even visible to unaided eye toward end of Jan
Depending on how bright it becomes in the coming weeks, the celestial object may even be visible to the naked eye in dark skies toward the end of January.
Named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the comet which has gradually brightened as it nears the sun, will pass from within 26 million miles (42 million kilometres) of the earth – the closest it will come to our planet – between February 1 and February 2, according to EarthSky.
As the comet approaches the Earth, observers will be able to spot it near the bright star Polaris, also called the North Star, and it should be visible earlier in the evening.
Astronomers found the comet using the Zwicky Transient Facility’s wide-field survey camera at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, according to NASA. It has an orbit around the sun that passes through the outer boundaries of the solar system, which is why it’s taken such a long journey and long time to come close to the Earth again, according to The Planetary Society.
