Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on 2 March 2022. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet's systematic designation starts with C to indicate that it is not a periodic comet, and "2022 E3" means that it was the third comet to be discovered in the first half of March 2022.
The comet reached its perihelion on 12 January 2023, at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km; 103 million mi), and the closest approach to Earth was on 1 February 2023, at a distance of 0.28 AU (42 million km; 26 million mi). The comet reached magnitude 5 and was visible with the naked eye under moonless dark skies.
For 15 February 2023 UT, the comet remains about 2 degrees from the red giant star Aldebaran (the field of view of common binoculars is about 6 degrees). The comet is estimated to be about magnitude 6.5 and requires optical aid such as binoculars. [Today - Feb 20 – the comet is few degrees farther south and west of Aldebaran.]
It was very difficult for me to get pictures of this comet. My telescope was more than up to the task but there were other things working against me. You all know how cloudy and overcast our skies are this time of year. This severely limited my opportunities to observe the comet. I was sick on the first clear night near the comet’s closest approach so that night was out. Feb 1 – the time of closest approach – was a beautiful, dark, clear night. I updated my telescope’s software and later, went out to view the comet. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the telescope after the update so by the time I was ready to observe the comet, the telescope’s battery was dead. Aaargh! Sometimes life just sucks!!!
There have been no clear nights since then so I had to do the best I could on two marginal nights; Feb 7 and 14. I was able to get my pictures during a 30 minute clear window the first night and a 45 minute window on the second night. Even then I had to deal with occasional clouds and high winds. High winds make my telescope vibrate and that makes the telescope unable to track objects.
Here are the best pictures I was able to get. The comet’s nucleus is clearly visible and some of its main tail. On some of the pictures you can see hints of its second tail and a faint green glow. You can also see how the nucleus is smaller in the last two pictures because the comet had been moving away from us for a week longer when those pictures were taken.
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