Newly found comet to visit Earth: last seen when Neanderthals existed 50,000 years ago

Astronomers are excited as have already something to look forward to in 2023. A newly discovered comet has entered the inner solar system and is heading towards the Sun, shining bright across the sky. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will make its closest approach to the Sun on January 12 and then rendezvous with Earth on February 2. According to NASA, comets are mostly made of ice covered with dark organic material. They are known as dirty snowballs and may hold important clues about the formation of our solar system. Comets may have brought water and organic compounds, the building blocks of life, to the early Earth and other parts of the Solar System.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was first discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility's Wide-field Survey Camera in March last year when it was already inside Jupiter's orbit. While it was initially thought to be an asteroid, it began to develop a tail as the Sun's influence began to evaporate the ice. It was shining with a magnitude of 17.3 at the time of its discovery. The icy body has maintained its current trend in brightness and NASA has stated that it can be easily seen with binoculars, and it may be possible to see it with the naked eye under dark skies.

According to the data collected by the telescope, the comet has a period of about 50,000 years and it last appeared in the skies above Earth during the Upper Paleolithic, a time when Neanderthals roamed the planet and early Homo sapiens were still living. Just came "Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness," NASA said in an update. In its update, the US space agency said that observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky as it moves rapidly northwest during January and will be visible in the Southern Hemisphere in early February. "This comet is not expected to be the kind of spectacle that Comet Neowise 2020 was. But it is still a wonderful opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer Solar System," NASA said.