A bright green comet will fly by Earth’s outer space for the first time in 50,000 years and may last for a month.
NASA officials said the icy visitor was first spotted in March 2022, when it was orbiting Jupiter.
It could be seen in binoculars as a small green glow for those in the Northern Hemisphere starting Thursday.
According to scientists, it will be closest to Earth on February 2.
“Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current brightness trend, it will be easy to spot,” NASA said in a blog post earlier this month.
“It is possible that it will become visible to the naked eye under a dark sky,”
The icy celestial body, named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), will make its closest approach to the Sun on Jan. 12 before making its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 2, according to NASA.
According to the Planetary Society at which point it will be about 26 million miles (42 million kilometers) from the planet.
A “humiliating” experience
Retired science teacher and astrophotographer Dan Bartlett took pictures of the comet from his cabin near Yosemite National Park in California and called looking at the sky a “humbling” experience.
“I tell you – binoculars, a dark place – you will see something. Bring your friends and you’ll all see something of a lifetime,” Mr Bartlett told the BBC.
He keeps two “pretty impressive scopes” on his front porch in June Lake, and the clear nights and dark skies allow him to take some impressive photos.
“Anytime you have a lake system or an ocean system around you, it causes a smoother flow of air. The smoother airflow means the stars don’t twinkle as much, so you get more detail,” he explained.
To observers in the Northern Hemisphere without a telescope, the comet will appear as a “faint, greenish patch in the sky,” while those with a telescope will be able to see the comet’s impressive visible tail, the Planetary Society said.
The bright green glow will be visible to observers in the Northern Hemisphere in the morning sky as the comet heads northwest during January. Those living in the southern hemisphere will be able to see it in February, NASA said.
The comet is not expected to be as “spectacular” as Comet NEOWISE 2020, the brightest comet seen from the Northern Hemisphere since 1997, NASA said.
But it’s still “a great opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the far outer solar system,” NASA said.
The comet takes about 50,000 years to orbit the Sun, so “it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it,” the Planetary Society said.
