Move over Hale-Bopp: Once in 50,000-year comet may be visible to naked eye

This handout picture obtained from the NASA website on 6 January, 2022 shows the Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) that was discovered by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility this year in early March. © AFP - Dan Bartlett

A newly discovered comet could be visible to the naked eye as it shoots past the Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks for the first time in 50,000 years.

The celestial object is catchily called C/2022 E3 (ZTF) – after the Zwicky Transient Facility – which first spotted it passing Jupiter in March last year.