Once in 50,000-year: A super rare green comet is about to make its first and only appearance in recorded history — and it will visible to the naked eye

Despite the fact that 2023 has only started, the cosmos are already poised to create history. 

A comet that was just recently identified will be visible in a few weeks during what is likely to be its one and only documented appearance. The comet is expected to have traveled billions of kilometers from its thought beginnings near the fringe of our solar system.

In March 2022, the comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was initially seen when it passed through Jupiter's orbit. It's a long-period comet that NASA believes originated in the Oort Cloud, the furthest area of the solar system, which is described as "like a gigantic, thick-walled bubble formed of frozen chunks of space debris" and may grow to be even larger than mountains. 

According to estimates, the inner boundary of this zone is located between 2,000 and 5,000 astronomical units (AUs), or 186 billion and 465 billion miles, from the sun.

This indicates that C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has traveled on a unique, exceptional voyage to be near Earth.

"Most known long-period comets have been seen only once in recorded history because their orbital periods are so, well, long," NASA says. "Countless more unknown long-period comets have never been seen by human eyes. Some have orbits so long that the last time they passed through the inner solar system, our species did not yet exist."

C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, a recent comet of this sort, already visited the inner solar system and passed close to Mars in 2014. However, the space agency estimates that it won't return for around 740,000 years.

According to Jessica Lee, an astronomer from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the E3 comet may provide a similar scenario.

"We don't have an estimate for the furthest it will get from the Earth yet — estimates vary — but if it does return it won't be for at least 50,000 years," she said. "...Some predictions suggest that the orbit of this comet is so eccentric it's no longer in an orbit-so it's not going to return at all and will just keep going."

The freshly found E3 comet will now reach its closest approach to the sun on January 12. It has been seen to have a vivid greenish coma and "short wide" dust tail. On February 2, it will get as near to Earth as it will.

In December, Californian astronomer Dan Bartlett was able to picture the comet from his garden. He said that he could make out "intricate tail structure" in the comet's plasma tail and that "conditions are becoming better."

According to NASA, the comet will be seen with binoculars if everything goes according to plan and its brightness trend continues. Away from city lights, it could also be seen with the unaided eye. According to NASA, the comet will be visible in the morning hours of January in the northern hemisphere and in the early morning hours of February in the southern hemisphere.

"This comet isn't expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020," the agency added. "But it's still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system."

Hubble Telescope Provides Crystal Clear images of the Rarest Metallic Asteroid Worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000

A very rare metallic asteroid is hiding between Mars and Jupiter, and it’s worth more than the entire global economy, according to researchers and observers. Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope gave researchers a closer look at the space object, worth an estimated $10,000 quadrillion according to the mission’s leader at Arizona State University, CBS reported.

A new study published in The Planetary Science Journal examines the asteroid ’16 Psyche’, which is one of the most massive objects in the solar system’s main asteroid belt. 16 Psyche orbits between Mars and Jupiter, about 230 million miles from the Earth. It measures about 140 miles in diameter — approximately the size of Massachusetts. 

A new study has given us a closer look at 16 Psyche, a rare metallic asteroid worth an estimated $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 https://t.co/QLuO9pYIUF pic.twitter.com/OpxWaQHJoT

— CNN International (@cnni) October 31, 2020

Typically asteroids are made of rocks or ice. But what sets 16 Psyche apart is it’s mostly made out of metal, which the scientists believe is due to the leftover core of a planet that never succeeded in forming, or what’s called a “protoplanet.”

The study signifies the first ultraviolet (UV) observations of the metallic asteroid. New data reveals the asteroid may be made entirely of iron and nickel which is found in the solid centers of planets according to the scientists. 

We’ve seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche could be unique in that it might be an asteroid that is totally made of iron and nickel,” lead author Dr. Tracy Becker said in a statement. “Earth has a metal core, a mantle, and crust. It’s possible that as a Psyche protoplanet was forming, it was struck by another object in our solar system and lost its mantle and crust.”

Hubble’s ultraviolet observations are providing new, more complete views of the massive, metallic asteroid Psyche. Studying Psyche might help us learn more about the cores of planets! From @SwRI: https://t.co/tP9I58CV9G

(Image courtesy of Maxar/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech) pic.twitter.com/03DrkP06WW

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) October 26, 2020

Astronomers studied the asteroid at two key times during its rotation in order to view the aspects of both sides completely at UV wavelengths. They discovered the surface could be principally iron, however, they warned that even a small amount of iron would totally eclipse UV studies.

“We were able to identify for the first time on any asteroid what we think are iron oxide ultraviolet absorption bands,” Becker said. “This is an indication that oxidation is happening on the asteroid, which could be a result of the solar wind hitting the surface.”

Solar wind is the flow of charged particles from the sun’s upper atmosphere, called the corona, throughout the solar system. It’s responsible for the tails of comets as they soar across the sky, the formations of auroras, and the possible “space weathering” of Psyche. 

Researchers said they need to further study the asteroid to determine its characteristics for sure.

“This is something that we need to study further,” Becker said. “This could be indicative of it being exposed in space for so long. This type of UV brightening is often attributed to space weathering.”

Metal asteroids are incredibly rare, so Psyche provides researchers with an impressive opportunity to examine the interior of a planet. In 2022, NASA discussed plans to launch the unmanned spacecraft Psyche on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to further understand the asteroid. This is an attempt bolster its history and that of similar objects. This is also a key experiment marking the first time a metallic asteroid has been reviewed.

The orbiter is set to land on the asteroid in January 2026 to analyze it for nearly two years.

Reference(s): The Planetary Science Journal and CBS.