ORLANDO, Fla. — A comet discovered in 2022 that has not been in the neighborhood for 50,000 years could get baked enough by the sun this week as it approaches its closest path by the Earth to be seen by the naked eye this month.
The ball of ice known as Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will make its closest approach to the sun on Thursday, but is already visible in the Northern Hemisphere in the predawn skies with the use of a telescope or binoculars, according to NASA.
As comets get closer to the sun, their dust tails can grow larger and brighter in the sky. The comet, which has a bright green core with a short, broad dust tail and long ion tail, was captured by astronomy photographer Dan Bartlett in December. It will come within about 100 million miles of the sun, according to in-the-sky.org.
