by THE The passage of Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) is one of the most anticipated astronomical events of this year. The last time this space traveler passed by Earth would have been about 50 thousand years ago and it can now be observed in the skies, with the expectation that in the early hours of February 1 it can be observed without the need for telescopes, reaching a dimension that allows vision with the naked eye.
THE Astrophotographer Miguel Claro has his lens pointed at the sky to document the comet’s passage and has already shared a number of stunning images, as well as a video. In the unique conditions of the Alqueva Dark Sky Observatory in Portugal, without the interference of light pollution that affects citiesallow for clearer images, and the astrophotographer’s mastery of technique, and artistic eye, do the rest.
Check out the images of Cometa c/2022 E3 captured by Miguel Claro
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Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) photographed by Miguel Claro The image reveals a close-up of Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) during the night of January 19, 2023. In addition to showing a gorgeous greenish coma from the glow of carbon gas and a rare antitail, something unusual is also on display with the long tail of the ions, called the dissociation event.
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Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) photographed by Miguel Claro A piece of comet ZTF’s tail has become detached and is being swept away by the solar wind. The comet was photographed late at night at a distance of 79 million kilometers by the Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Portugal, three hours before the start of astronomical twilight. This distant traveler, which has not been seen for about 50,000 years, moves very quickly against the background of the starry sky, and that night it was located between the constellations of Hercules, Coroa Borealis and Boieiro, showing a faint optical magnitude +6.6 .
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Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) photographed by Miguel Claro This is one of two portrait versions. Although on February 1st the comet is at its closest point to our planet and finally, by then, it may reach a size visible to the naked eye, this type of object is quite unpredictable and “we never know what surprise is in store” .
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Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) photographed by Miguel Claro This is one of two portrait versions. Although on February 1st the comet is at its closest point to our planet and finally, by then, it may reach a size visible to the naked eye, this type of object is quite unpredictable and “we never know what surprise is in store” .
” data-title=”Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) photographed by Miguel Claro – Comet c/2022 E3 already shows a greenish tail and there are pictures taken at the Dark Sky Alqueva Observatory – SAPO Tek”>
In the On January 19th a piece of the comet’s cause detached from the main body and Miguel Claro captured everything with his camera at a distance of 79 million kilometers away from the Official Dark Sky Alqueva Observatory.
“Besides having a lovely greenish coma from the glow of the coal gas, and a rare anti-tail, something unusual was also happening with the long ion tail, called the decoupling event. A piece of comet ZTF’s tail has become detached and is being swept away by the solar wind,” explains Miguel Claro.
The comet’s greenish tail is one of the sights of the object that will be at its closest point to Earth in the early hours of February 1 and should be visible to the naked eye if all goes as predicted.
THE the astrophotographer also prepared a time lapse video combining more than 3 and a half hours of images in 4K resolutionand which also shows the moment when the tail was detached from Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 19, 2023.
On the night he took the images, ZTF was between the constellations Hercules, Coroa Borealis and Boieiro, showing a faint optical magnitude of +6.6.
Miguel Claro has already promised to continue watching the comet’s passage and today he should reveal a new video.
