Naked eye Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will make a close approach to our planet on February 1, coming within roughly 26 million miles of Earth.
from Earth. But why does this comet and others like it often appear to be green?
While the comet is not visible to the naked eye yet, it can already be seen using telescopes. Astronomers across the world have managed to capture images of the object, in which the comet appears to have a hazy, green aura around its nucleus. But why is this the case?Comets are"cosmic snowballs" made up of frozen gases, dust and rock that orbit the sun. As they approach our star, these objects are blasted with increasing amounts of radiation, releasing gases and debris.
"Under the effects of sunlight, both those substances glow green," Gianluca Masi, an astronomer with the Virtual Telescope Project—a service provided by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Italy that operates and provides access to robotic, remotely operated telescopes—toldSunlight breaks down the diatomic carbon molecules into single carbon atoms before they can move into the comet's tail.
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