Track Green Comet in real time thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project

Last week, we mentioned that there’s a green comet trailing across our skies, with an expected proper viewing date of February 1st and 2nd. Now is already here!. With the scientific name C/2022 E3 (ZTF), many have already seen signs of it in the night sky. These two dates are when it will be the closest to the earth before it moves on towards the restaurant at the end of the universe.

While we’ve already covered the details of the green comet, there are some safety questions we’d like to answer at this moment. Also, you can watch the live broadcast on the YouTube video thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project. 

Is the green comet safe to look at it?

NASA has indicated that we will be able to see the comet as it passes by with the naked eye, but it will be a faint trail of light. For a better view, you’ll want to use a telescope or binoculars. You may need to wait for your eyes to adjust to the comet’s light, but there’s no fear of prolonged damage to your eyes. 

How to safely follow the green comet

Some of the more common issues of seeing the green comet is due to high humidity, fog, or light pollution. It may be harder to follow it during the day, unless you can find the faint tail in the sky. It’s better to try and spot it at dusk after the sunlight has dropped. Also, try to find a location where there is minimal light pollution, such as you would find in the Arizona desert.

Am I going to die?

It’s strange how many times I’ve seen this question on Twitter. Thanks to all the apocalyptic movies in the past, there’s this fear that the green comet is going to kill us all. I’m happy to tell you that it won’t. All it will do is harmlessly pass us. As a matter of fact, it will be a distance of a hundred times the space between the moon and Earth when it’s at it’s closest. 

I think it’s fairly safe to say we’ll be safe.

 

Well we all survived. The green comet passed the earth last evening. Nobody turned to dust, no machines came alive and tried to kill us, no zombies tried to eat us, and no aliens arrived.
Guess I need to go to work.
Have a great day everyone.

— Jason A. (@odie_442) January 13, 2023

One last note is that we will never see this comet again since its orbit won’t bring it this way again. Also, it’s the first time this comet will pass us in 50,000 years, It’s so you won’t want to miss it. Bookmark this page so you can come back to watch the show.

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