A once in a lifetime event is set to happen next week. Keep your eyes open for this phenomenal, rare occurrence in the skies of Feb. 1 and 2.
Comet C/2022 E3 has traveled through space for thousands of years, first flying past Earth 50,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic time period. According to Joe Rao of www.space.com, the comet will pass within 28 million miles of Earth for a second time this February.
The comet head will have a green, shimmery glow and a bright white tail propelling it, said Rao. A pair of binoculars can help see it in case its light fades before Feb. 1.
View this anomaly away from city lights for its full effect. It will appear just after sunset toward the north sky and will be visible with the naked eye until the morning of Feb. 2.
Track the comet’s location before Feb. 1 using http://www.theskylive. com or coordinate updates.
The comet was discovered last year in March by astronomers Frank Masci and Bryce Bolin.
Craig Freudenrich, author of “Astronomy Terms: How Comets Work,” believes comets are materials that have bounced off course from the Oort Cloud or Kuiper belt from another planet or star’s passing gravitational pull.
“When another star in the solar system passes them…[it] causes comets to descend toward the sun in a highly elliptical orbit with the sun at one focus of the ellipse,” said Freudenrich in his book.
According to NASA Solar System Exploration, comets consist of space material like dust, rock, and ice. When nearby stars heat these materials up, ice burns off as gas and dust and rock shoot off in a burst of energy contributing to the projection through space. The off-gasses create the glowing head.
Photo By Vincentiu Solomon, Unsplash
