Green comet to pass Earth for the first time since the Stone Age - Insider

• A greenish comet named C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is approaching Earth, according to NASA.
• The comet past made its mode done our star strategy 50,000 years ago, according to KXAN.
• The comet volition beryllium astir 26 cardinal miles from Earth connected February 2.

A greenish comet volition walk by Earth for the archetypal clip since the Stone Age successful February, and it won't instrumentality for different 50,000 years, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The comet, named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), volition beryllium astir 26 cardinal miles from Earth connected February 2, according to KXAN. February 2 volition beryllium the closest the comet has been to the Earth since the Upper Paleolithic era, which is the clip humans are believed to person near Africa and settled successful Asia and Europe, the outlet reported.

Astronomers archetypal spotted the comet successful March, according to a quality merchandise from NASA.

"The caller long-period comet has brightened substantially and is present sweeping crossed the bluish constellation Corona Borealis successful predawn skies," NASA said successful a quality merchandise connected December 24. "It's inactive excessively dim to spot without a scope though."

According to NASA, the brightness of comets is "notoriously unpredictable," but by February 2, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) could beryllium "only conscionable disposable to the oculus successful acheronian nighttime skies." The comet has a "greenish coma, abbreviated wide particulate tail, and agelong faint ion tail," according to NASA.

According to USA Today, the comet is disposable to radical successful the Northern Hemisphere successful pre-dawn skies with binoculars oregon a scope successful dark, wide skies for the full period of January.

The outlet reported that experts accidental the comet apt came from the Oort Cloud, the farthest portion of the star strategy that contains a "big, thick-walled bubble made of icy pieces of abstraction debris the sizes of mountains and sometimes larger."