DUANE SHERRILLEditor

If you happen to see a streak of green crossing the northwestern night sky this month, it isn’t the end of the world but instead is a comet not seen on Earth for 50,000 years.

The green comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) which is called E3 for short will come within 26 million miles from Earth on Feb. 2 but by that point may slip below the horizon so it is viewable exclusively in the southern hemisphere. However, from now through the rest of the month there’s a chance folks in the northern hemisphere can catch a glimpse of the green comet if conditions are right. It makes its closest approach to the Sun tomorrow.

According to NASA, predicting the brightness of a comet is difficult to predict. NASA said that if it continues to brighten, it could be visible with the naked eye. And, if it is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye, there will be no mistaking it since it is bright green.

Comets grow brighter as they approach the Sun. This is because the Sun causes frozen dust and gas beneath the surface to be released. Sunlight reflects off of these gases, giving them the appearance of tails. Some tails can stretch for millions of miles.

“The brightness of comets tends to be unpredictable, but this one’s current behavior is promising,” said Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Its glow may be visible to the naked eye, though only in dark night skies. Observers with binoculars or telescopes have a greater chance of witnessing the rare speck of light. Spectators in the Northern Hemisphere can begin to spot the comet’s faint glow in the morning sky this month as it journeys toward the northwest.”

The comet was named for where it was discovered – the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in California which spotted it near Jupiter. The second part of its name is the year it was discovered (2022). Since it was discovered in the first part of March, or the fifth “half-month” of the year, it was designated E, the fifth letter of the alphabet. And, it was third object discovered that half-month, bringing its common moniker – “E3.”

The comet is not expected to be the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020. However, even if the comet is not viewable by the naked eye, there is a good chance it can be seen using binoculars or a telescope. The best chances of catching a glimpse will be in the pre-dawn hours, facing the northwest away from city lights.