Comet C-2022 E3 (ZTF)
On January 20, 2023, comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was visible, though faint (Mag: 9.44), in the night sky, and was located in the constellation of Boötes (RA 15h 33m 54s Dec +50° 47′ 12"), close to the borders of Draco and Ursa Minor, moving towards being circumpolar for many northern latitudes. Not related but this is close to the radiant point of the Quadrantids meteor shower. According to BBC Sky at Night Magazine, it was visible as a binocular object at this time. At this time it was 167.55. Gm from the Sun and 72.32 Gm from the Earth.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) also known as the "green comet", was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility on March 2, 2022, and it reached perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, on January 12, 2023. The comet made its closest approach to Earth on February 1, 2023, at a distance of 43.5 Gm.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a non-periodic comet from the Oort cloud. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet's systematic designation starts with C to indicate that it is not a periodic comet, and "2022 E3" means that it was the third comet to be discovered in the first half of March 2022.
The comet nucleus was estimated to be about a kilometre in size, rotating every 8.5 to 8.7 hours. Its tails of dust and gas extended for millions of kilometres and, during January 2023, an anti-tail was also visible.
The comet reached its perihelion on 12 January 2023, at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km; 103 million mi), and the closest approach to Earth was on 1 February 2023, at a distance of 0.28 AU (42 Gm). The comet reached magnitude 5 and was visible with the naked eye under moonless dark skies. None of the stars seen here can be seen with the naked eye as this is a sparsely populated area in the northern part of Boötes.
Boötes, also known as "The Herdsman," is a large northern constellation containing the bright star Arcturus, and is shaped like a kite or ice-cream cone. It's easily found by "arching" from the handle of the Plough in Ursa Major. Boötes is a Latin name, and the pronunciation is "boo-OH-tees". The Greek word it comes from means "herdsman" or "ox-driver". Boötes is located in the northern sky, near Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and is best seen in the spring and summer. It's a large constellation, extending about 51 degrees across the sky. Arcturus is the brightest star in Boötes, and the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
Jargon Buster:
Mag; Apparent magnitude is a measure of the brightness of a star.
RA; right ascension is the celestial equivalent of longitude, measuring the angular distance eastward along the celestial equator from the vernal equinox to a celestial object's hour circle, and is typically expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds.
Dec; declination is the celestial equivalent of latitude on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system.
Radiant point; The "radiant point" of a meteor shower is the celestial point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate, and the paths of meteors in a shower appear to converge at this point.
Non-periodic comets; Also known as long-period comets, are those with orbital periods exceeding 200 years, often seen only once as they pass through the solar system on near-parabolic or hyperbolic orbits, potentially originating from the Oort cloud.
Oort cloud; A theoretical, vast, spherical shell of icy bodies, thought to be the source of long-period comets, that surrounds our solar system at distances far beyond the Kuiper Belt.
Perihelion; The point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet that is nearest to the sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point farthest from the sun.
GM; A gigametre is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) representing a distance of 1 billion meters or 1 million kilometres.
Diatomic; Are molecules composed of only two atoms, of the same or different chemical elements.
AU; The astronomical unit is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to 149597870700 m. Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its modern redefinition in 2012.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2022_E3_(ZTF)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C3%B6tes
Comet C-2022 E3 (ZTF)
On January 20, 2023, comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was visible, though faint (Mag: 9.44), in the night sky, and was located in the constellation of Boötes (RA 15h 33m 54s Dec +50° 47′ 12"), close to the borders of Draco and Ursa Minor, moving towards being circumpolar for many northern latitudes. Not related but this is close to the radiant point of the Quadrantids meteor shower. According to BBC Sky at Night Magazine, it was visible as a binocular object at this time. At this time it was 167.55. Gm from the Sun and 72.32 Gm from the Earth.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) also known as the "green comet", was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility on March 2, 2022, and it reached perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, on January 12, 2023. The comet made its closest approach to Earth on February 1, 2023, at a distance of 43.5 Gm.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a non-periodic comet from the Oort cloud. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet's systematic designation starts with C to indicate that it is not a periodic comet, and "2022 E3" means that it was the third comet to be discovered in the first half of March 2022.
The comet nucleus was estimated to be about a kilometre in size, rotating every 8.5 to 8.7 hours. Its tails of dust and gas extended for millions of kilometres and, during January 2023, an anti-tail was also visible.
The comet reached its perihelion on 12 January 2023, at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km; 103 million mi), and the closest approach to Earth was on 1 February 2023, at a distance of 0.28 AU (42 Gm). The comet reached magnitude 5 and was visible with the naked eye under moonless dark skies. None of the stars seen here can be seen with the naked eye as this is a sparsely populated area in the northern part of Boötes.
Boötes, also known as "The Herdsman," is a large northern constellation containing the bright star Arcturus, and is shaped like a kite or ice-cream cone. It's easily found by "arching" from the handle of the Plough in Ursa Major. Boötes is a Latin name, and the pronunciation is "boo-OH-tees". The Greek word it comes from means "herdsman" or "ox-driver". Boötes is located in the northern sky, near Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and is best seen in the spring and summer. It's a large constellation, extending about 51 degrees across the sky. Arcturus is the brightest star in Boötes, and the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
Jargon Buster:
Mag; Apparent magnitude is a measure of the brightness of a star.
RA; right ascension is the celestial equivalent of longitude, measuring the angular distance eastward along the celestial equator from the vernal equinox to a celestial object's hour circle, and is typically expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds.
Dec; declination is the celestial equivalent of latitude on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system.
Radiant point; The "radiant point" of a meteor shower is the celestial point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate, and the paths of meteors in a shower appear to converge at this point.
Non-periodic comets; Also known as long-period comets, are those with orbital periods exceeding 200 years, often seen only once as they pass through the solar system on near-parabolic or hyperbolic orbits, potentially originating from the Oort cloud.
Oort cloud; A theoretical, vast, spherical shell of icy bodies, thought to be the source of long-period comets, that surrounds our solar system at distances far beyond the Kuiper Belt.
Perihelion; The point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet that is nearest to the sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point farthest from the sun.
GM; A gigametre is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) representing a distance of 1 billion meters or 1 million kilometres.
Diatomic; Are molecules composed of only two atoms, of the same or different chemical elements.
AU; The astronomical unit is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to 149597870700 m. Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its modern redefinition in 2012.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2022_E3_(ZTF)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C3%B6tes