How Aussies can watch ‘the green comet’ C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Aussie stargazers will get a chance to see a green comet for the first time in 50,000 years this week. See how.

The green comet is making its closest approach to Earth in 50,000 years. Picture: Twitter/Dan Barlett

Australians will get a chance to catch a rare glimpse of ‘the green comet’ this week as it makes its closest approach to Earth in 50,000 years.

There is a chance the comet, known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), will be visible to the naked eye from Monday but clearest on February 1 and 2.

The 1km-wide comet was discovered by astronomers using a wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California in March last year.

It was closest to the Sun on January 12 and will be closest to Earth, at a distance of 41.8 million kilometres, on February 2. It has been visible in the Northern Hemisphere skies in recent days.

The Green Comet (C/2022 E3 ZTF) shot from the back garden on Thursday morning.@UKNikon D750 + @TamronUK 70-200mm (+1.4tc)

30s, ISO2500, f/2.8#Comet#Scotland#Photography#AstroPhotography#[e-mail]/hA0G0O6Jnd

— Dynamic Scotland Photography (@DynamicScotland) January 29, 2023

Stargazers will have a better chance of spotting the comet with a telescope or binoculars.

University of Queensland astrophysicist Dr Ben Pope said the green colour would be difficult to see for some.

“It won’t be green to the naked eye, maybe with a substantial telescope, but it will mostly be through astrophotography,” he told ABC News.

“Nearly everything in astronomy is basically white to the naked eye except, like, red giant stars and Mars appears a little red, Jupiter is quite noticeably yellow.”

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) this morning from Orlando, FL. Tracked for 90 minutes (180s subs) with my Redcat 71 and ASI6200MC. Stacked and edited on Adobe Premiere Pro. #CometZTF#comet ☄️ pic.twitter.com/ufQfLDMj6H

— Antonio Paris (@AntonioParis) January 27, 2023

Dr Pope said Aussies who lived in the country, where there was less light pollution, stood a better chance of seeing it.

“Basically, they’re very faint, you get a lot of people who go outside and wait and wait, and say, ‘I didn’t see anything’, but that’s because you’re in the inner suburbs, even outer suburbs it’ll be hard,” he said.

“It’s very hard to see unless you’re in a very dark space.”

The reason for the green glow is from a breakdown of a reactive molecule called dicarbon, according to Proceeding for the National Academy of Sciences.