from
https://www.iflscience.com/earth-is-about-to-see-an-object-last-seen-during-the-time-of-neanderthals-66885
Earth Is About To See An Object Last Seen During The Time Of Neanderthals
The last time this was seen, humanity had only just begun to expand.
James Felton
JAMES FELTON
Senior Staff Writer
clock
Dec 29, 2022 8:13 AM
A comet streaking through the sky.
A young comet captured by Hubble in 2019. Image credit: NASA/Hubble
If you look up into the sky over the next few months, you can see an
object last seen when Neanderthals walked the Earth.
On March 2, 2022, astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility
discovered a comet using a wide-field survey camera. The comet is
estimated to complete an orbit of the Sun once every 50,000 years,
meaning the last time we saw the comet was in the Upper Paleolithic
period, when humans began to expand throughout Asia and Europe.
The comet, dubbed a tongue-rolling "C/2022 E3 (ZTF)", is currently too
dim to be seen without a telescope. However, it may be possible to see
with the naked eye sometime at the end of January and beginning of
February 2023.
The comet is currently on its approach to perihelion (its closest
approach to the Sun), which will occur on January 12. It will be closest
to Earth – known as at perigee – on February 1. Around this point, it
may be visible to the naked eye, though Sky at Night point out it would
likely look like a smudge of chalk dust on a chalk board rather than the
dazzling display put on by comet Neowise.
The comet, first believed to be an asteroid before the coma was
observed, was discovered using a telescope that, at 1.2 meters (4 feet),
is around the size of Hervé Villechaize, who played evil henchman Nick
Nack in James Bond: The Man With The Golden Gun. It will safely pass the
Earth at a distance of about 44 million kilometers (27 million miles),
or 36,667 million Hervé Villechaizes away.
space
SPACE AND PHYSICS
tag
COMET
JAMES FELTON
Senior Staff Writer
James is a published author with four pop-history and science books to
his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out
of the ordinary.
Read IFLScience Editorial Policy