Earth is about to see an object last seen during Neanderthal times

If you look skyward in the coming months, you may see an object last seen when Neanderthals walked the Earth.

On March 2, 2022, astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility discovered a comet using the Wide Field Survey Camera. The comet is estimated to complete one orbit of the Sun once every 50,000 yearsthat is, the last time we saw the comet was in the Upper Paleolithic, when humans began to expand across Asia and Europe.

Dubbed a tongue-twisting “C/2022 E3 (ZTF),” the comet is currently too dark to be seen. without telescope. However, it may be visible to the naked eye in late January and early February 2023.

The comet is currently in its approach to perihelion (its closest approach to the Sun), which will occur on January 12. It will be closest to Earth, known as perigee, on February 1. Around this point, may but be visible to the naked eye Aim for Sky at Night it would probably look like a speck of chalk dust on a blackboard instead of the dazzling display by Comet Neowise.

The comet, which was believed to be an asteroid before the coma was observed, was discovered by a telescope that, in 1.2 meters (4 feet), is the size of Hervé Villechaizewho played the evil henchman Nick Nack James Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun. It will pass safely by Earth at a distance of about 44 million kilometers (27 million miles), or 36,667 million Hervé Villechaizes.