Earlier this month, NASA spotted comet C/2022 E3 in the night sky. Comets are clusters of ice, dust, and rock that orbit the Sun. While there are usually a couple of meteor showers a year, comets rarely come close to Earth, which is why sightings are so rare. When a comet comes close enough to the sun, the ice melts and releases a trail of gasses, showing the ‘tail’ visible from Earth on a clear night. This ‘green comet’ was spotted from the Zwicky Transient Facility in California and is expected to be at its most visible on February 1. According to NASA analyst Jon Giorgini, this may be the first time the comet has been visible for over 10,000 to 50,000 years. For comparison, Halley’s Comet appears about every 77 years. This discovery is important because it is one of the first comets predicted to consistently remain bright. Also, despite what people fear, it will not come close enough to hit the planet. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence regarding both its appearance and its color, so try and see if you can spot it!

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Kim, Juliana. “A bright green comet may be visible with the naked eye starting later this month.” NPR, 8 January 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/01/08/1147685424/comet-green-january-e3-ztf-nasa.