A recently discovered comet called C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now passing through the solar system and could potentially even be visible to the naked eye. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on January 12 and made its closest approach to the Earth on February 1, which is the best day to view the “green comet.”
A comet is a small, icy, dusty object that orbits the Sun and occasionally releases a bright, glowing tail as it approaches the Sun. Comets are composed of a mixture of ice, dust, and rock and are thought to have formed in the early Solar System. As a comet nears the Sun, the heat causes the ice to vaporize, creating a bright coma and a tail that can be seen from Earth. Some comets are thought to originate from the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, two regions of the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. Others may be fragments of larger bodies that have been disrupted by collisions or gravitational interactions. Comets are considered to be time capsules, preserving some of the oldest and most primitive materials from the early Solar System.
