Look for a bright green comet streaking through the NJ sky

An extremely rare comet should be visible with the naked eye as it streaks through the New Jersey sky this month and the beginning of next month.

While it is expected to be visible without a telescope, NASA warns that the brightness of comets is historically hard to predict. What is certain, though, is that Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF will pass closest to the Earth on Feb. 1, when it will be approximately 26 million miles away.

The comet wasn’t even discovered until last year, and astronomers believe its last pass near Earth was 50,000 years ago!

According to NASA, observers in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to find C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the morning sky, as it moves to the northwest throughout January. The comet will become visible for skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere in early February 2023.

Discovered on March 2, 2022, by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility's wide-field survey camera at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California; that’s where the ZTF at the end of its name comes from. It really needs a nickname.

The comet will make its closest approach to the sun on Jan. 12, according to NASA, when it won’t be visible without a telescope.

C/2022 E3 ZTF has a long orbit around not only the sun, but through the outer solar system, which is why it hasn’t been seen in 50,000 years. The comet’s tail can stretch for millions of miles and has a head larger than many planets. If you miss your chance to see it, you’ll have to wait another 50,000 years; maybe by then it will have a memorable nickname.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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