A dazzling green comet is stopping by Earth to say hello on its roundtrip orbit around the sun—giving stargazers a chance to see it in all its glory.
The comet, dubbed C/2022 E3 (ZTF), will be making its closest approach on Feb. 2, offering some of the best chances to spot it in the sky with your naked eye (though you’ll have a much better chance with a pair of binoculars or a telescope). To see it, simply look towards the northern hemisphere at night near the North Star and parallel to the constellation Ursa Major.
Astronomers say that the spacefaring visitor is actually a remnant of the earliest days of our solar system. Since a comet is simply a big ball of space dust and ice, it could hold material from the very beginning. This means that it gives them an opportunity to better understand the conditions that created life on Earth—and potentially elsewhere.
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