What time will the green comet be visible tonight? Where to look in ...

A green comet that has not passed by Earth since the Stone Age is currently visible in the night sky, and makes its closest approach tonight.

The comet will not be visible again for another 50,000 years, which makes seeing it a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It is called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), and was only discovered last year. Here is everything you need to know about the comet, and how to see it from the UK.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered inside Jupiter’s orbit by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a public-private partnership that examines the night sky, in March 2022.

The comet is believed to come from the Oort Cloud, the zone of material that encircles thet sun on the very outskirts of the solar system, which is estimated by scientists to contain more than a trillion icy objects.

Scientists first thought it was an asteroid, but it has since got significantly brighter as it traversed across the northern constellation Corona Borealis.

The comet has a green coma – wthe cloud of gas which surrounds the icy rock core – and a yellowish tail. It was first photographed in December.

Bryce Bolin, one of the scientists who discovered the comet, told the Boston Globe the team “secretly hope it will disintegrate” as “that’s where the more interesting science is”.

“Comets are the cats of the solar system; they do whatever they want,” he said.

“Like cats, they have fluffiness. Comets have been observed to have peculiar behaviours, like fragmenting or disintegrating.

“But there is not really a strong correlation between the distance to the Sun and the kind of disintegration events that occur. It could break apart on its way in before it ever comes close to the Sun, or even after.”

The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on Thursday 12 January, Nasa said, and will pass closest to Earth on Wednesday 1 February, when it will be 26.4 million miles away.

In early February, the comet should be visible in the night sky, possibly even without any equipment on a dark and clear night. However, you will get a better view of it with binoculars or a telescope. There are also live streams on YouTube, one of which you can find here.

Nasa said: “Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it’ll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it’s just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies.”

If you use a stargazing app, you can use it to find the exact location of the comet in the sky. Be aware though that some apps may not be updated with its location, so you may have to try a few different ones.

The comet has travelled up through the constellations of Boötes and Draco, and passed through Ursa Minor at the end of January.

Tonight the comet will be in the constellation of Camelopardalis. After its closest approach, it will move through Auriga and end up in Taurus in mid-February, before dimming.

Greenwich Royal Observatory advises: “If you use a telescope or binoculars, with a current brightness magnitude of +7 the comet will be easily visible in the night sky from 12 January to after its closest approach to Earth.

“In the week commencing 16 January, visibility of the comet will be best in the pre-dawn hours, whilst towards the end of the month and start of February it will also be visible from the evening onwards.

“If you want to avoid the bright light of the Moon reducing chances of seeing the comet, check what time the Moon will rise in your area and avoid attempting to observe at these times.”

The comet is best viewed after midnight, when it reaches its highest point in the sky.

Preston Dyches, from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a video: “This comet isn’t expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet Neowise was back in 2020.

“But it’s still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system.”