Rare green comet closest to Earth on February 1: When, where to watch this rare occurrence in India
A rare green comet will come closets to Earth on Wednesday that can be visible with binoculars in almost all states of India.
In a unique celestial event, a rare green comet named, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will come closest to Earth on February 1 and it will be visible in the skies above Earth. It will be visible in almost all states of India. The comet has a greenish tinge around its nucleus and tadpole-type tail that extends millions of kilometres in open space.
The comet will be just 42 Kilometers away from the Earth's surface, which is a very small distance on the cosmic scale. This comet has been orbiting around the sun for 50,000 years. This comet came close to Earth, the last time, when Neanderthals were roaming the planet and modern humans had not evolved till then.
Read: NASA: Hubble Space Telescope captures star formation in Orion Nebula, internet calls it ‘dazzling’
How to watch the green comet?
This comet can be seen in a clear and dark sky. The comet is however not as bright as it was expected to be and you will need binoculars to see the comet moving across the sky. This comet will be visible in the skies after 9:30 am. To watch the comet in the skies above India, look a bit south to the Pole Star in the skies and you can locate the greenish tinge in the skies. The comet will be travelling south and will reach the head of the Orion constellation.
Reports suggest that the comet will be seen in several parts of India, such as West Bengal, Odisha, Ladakh, and in various northeastern states of the country. Nasa plans to observe the comet with its James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which could provide clues about the solar system's formation.
"Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it'll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it's just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies," NASA wrote in its "What's Up" blog.