230126 C/2022 E3 (ZTF) _ "Bolin-Masci" comet
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click image to enlarge
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ASTRO:
type=Comet mag= ~5 (at maximum) const=(varied - northern skies) dist=26 M mi. at perigee (closest to Earth) size=appx 1 km (dia.) IMAGE: location=EB Driveway BrtlCls=4 exposure=CMOS OSC; 25x20s (0.14h), gain101 EQUIPMENT: camera=ASI2600MC-Pro optics=ES102 w1.0x flattener, FL=714mm, f/7.0 filter=(none) mount=Celestron AVX guiding=Orion 60x240mm, ZWO ASi224MC SOFTWARE: acquisition=Stellarium, APT, PHD2, processing=DSS, PhotoshopCC, RCAstro, LrC |
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Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered by NASA astronomers, Bryce Bolin and Frank Masci using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in early March, 2022. They discovered it while conducting surveys in their chosen field of study: the asteroids of the solar system. At that time, the long-period comet was sweeping across the northern constellation of Corona Borealis in predawn skies. It was initially too dim to see without a telescope, but brightened substantially as it progressed toward late 2022 and early 2023.
This telescopic image from January 19, 2023 shows the comet's bright greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and long faint ion tail stretching across much of the field-of-view. On a voyage through the inner Solar System, Comet 2022 E3 reached perihelion (its closest encounter with the Sun) on January 12, 2023 and perigee (its closest to Earth) on February 1, 2023.
When interviewed by the Boston Globe News, Dr. Bolin said he’s always been more of an educator than a scientist. When the comet was discovered, the Doctor in Astrophysics was at California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory hunting asteroids, and was alerted by an artificial intelligence computer program that flagged the unknown comet.
Bolin, a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Caltech Senior Staff Scientist Frank Masci confirmed the object the computer tipped them off to was indeed a long-period comet that was on a voyage through the inner solar system, and which ultimately became visible across the northern hemisphere.
Comet 2022 E3 was named "ZTF" for the asteroid survey, but became popularized as the “Green Comet" because its coma (the ball of decomposing diatomic carbon and cyanogen molecules, common in most comets) appeared overly green in images. All comets reflect a greenish hue; but, this one did so more intensely than other comets in recent years.
The comet made its closest approach to Earth (perigee) on February 1, 2023 when it reached within appx 28 M miles of our planet. By comparison, the Earth averages appx 94 M miles from the Sun, and appx 54 M miles from Mars when we are at opposition (i.e. - when Earth passes-by the Red Planet in our normal bi-annual close encounter as we both revolve around, and on the same side of the Sun). The Bolin-Masci comet moved in a trajectory plane that was roughly perpendicular to that of our solar system. It passed in-between Earth's and Mars' orbital paths as it progressed beyond perigee and toward exiting the solar system.
On January 29, 2023 as the comet progressed toward perigee, it visually passed within 11º of Polaris (the North Star) as seen from our point of view here in the Northern Hemisphere. Then on February 11, 2023 after perigee, it visually passed within 1º of Mars. Looking back to the recent opposition of Earth and Mars (which occurred on December 8, 2022), this means that while the comet traveled through ours and Mars' revolution paths, Earth and the comet were almost at opposition. So, the comet literally passed almost in between the 2 planets! This also helps explain why it's dust tail was so short - because from our point of view, it propagated almost directly behind the comet, and away from us. It is believed that it reached a velocity relative to our Sun of almost 3 km/s.
Our encounter with this particular "Green Comet" was not so close that we could call it a 'close encounter'; but, let's hope we don't get another one any closer!!
This telescopic image from January 19, 2023 shows the comet's bright greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and long faint ion tail stretching across much of the field-of-view. On a voyage through the inner Solar System, Comet 2022 E3 reached perihelion (its closest encounter with the Sun) on January 12, 2023 and perigee (its closest to Earth) on February 1, 2023.
When interviewed by the Boston Globe News, Dr. Bolin said he’s always been more of an educator than a scientist. When the comet was discovered, the Doctor in Astrophysics was at California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory hunting asteroids, and was alerted by an artificial intelligence computer program that flagged the unknown comet.
Bolin, a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Caltech Senior Staff Scientist Frank Masci confirmed the object the computer tipped them off to was indeed a long-period comet that was on a voyage through the inner solar system, and which ultimately became visible across the northern hemisphere.
Comet 2022 E3 was named "ZTF" for the asteroid survey, but became popularized as the “Green Comet" because its coma (the ball of decomposing diatomic carbon and cyanogen molecules, common in most comets) appeared overly green in images. All comets reflect a greenish hue; but, this one did so more intensely than other comets in recent years.
The comet made its closest approach to Earth (perigee) on February 1, 2023 when it reached within appx 28 M miles of our planet. By comparison, the Earth averages appx 94 M miles from the Sun, and appx 54 M miles from Mars when we are at opposition (i.e. - when Earth passes-by the Red Planet in our normal bi-annual close encounter as we both revolve around, and on the same side of the Sun). The Bolin-Masci comet moved in a trajectory plane that was roughly perpendicular to that of our solar system. It passed in-between Earth's and Mars' orbital paths as it progressed beyond perigee and toward exiting the solar system.
On January 29, 2023 as the comet progressed toward perigee, it visually passed within 11º of Polaris (the North Star) as seen from our point of view here in the Northern Hemisphere. Then on February 11, 2023 after perigee, it visually passed within 1º of Mars. Looking back to the recent opposition of Earth and Mars (which occurred on December 8, 2022), this means that while the comet traveled through ours and Mars' revolution paths, Earth and the comet were almost at opposition. So, the comet literally passed almost in between the 2 planets! This also helps explain why it's dust tail was so short - because from our point of view, it propagated almost directly behind the comet, and away from us. It is believed that it reached a velocity relative to our Sun of almost 3 km/s.
Our encounter with this particular "Green Comet" was not so close that we could call it a 'close encounter'; but, let's hope we don't get another one any closer!!