NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 13 February 2023: Green Comet ZTF flies past Mars | Tech News

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 13 February 2023: Green Comet ZTF flies past Mars

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is a picturesque image of Comet ZTF as it passed by Mars on its 50000-year journey.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Feb 13 2023, 12:21 IST
Top NASA Astronomy Pictures of the week: Nebulae to Comet ZTF, check them all
Comet ZTF
1/5 Rosette Nebula (Feb 6) - A breathtaking image of a nebula, which is around 5200 light-years away from Earth was featured as the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day on Feb 6. NASA says in the heart of the Rosette Nebula, there lies a bright cluster of stars that light up the nebula. NGC 2244's stars only formed a few million years ago from the surrounding gas. The center of the Rosette Nebula, visible through binoculars in the Monoceros constellation, measures about 50 light-years in diameter.  (NASA/Lyman Insley)
Comet ZTF
2/5 Rare Green Comet ZTF (Feb 7) - The Rare Green Comet ZTF passed Earth at its closest distance on February 1 after a period of nearly 50000 years. Along with the comet, two dippers - the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper can also be seen. The Big Dipper is a popular term used to describe the shape formed by the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major or the Great Bear.  (NASA/Petr Horalek/Institute of Physics in Opava)
Comet ZTF
3/5 Wind-Shaped Nebula (Feb 8) - NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for Feb 8 is a mesmerizing snapshot of the Stellar Wind-Shaped Nebula RCW 58. It is located nearly 13000 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. The Nebula has a wolf star located in the center, a star which is 100 times as massive as our Sun, a million times more luminous, and with 30 times the surface temperature. When these stars expand, they eject high-speed stellar winds through their outer layer.  (NASA/Mike Selby/Mark Hanson)
Comet ZTF
4/5 Nacreous Clouds (Feb 9) - Nacreous Clouds are a type of rare Polar Stratospheric Clouds which form when unusually cold temperatures in the usually cloudless lower stratosphere form ice crystals. NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on Feb 9 is of the stunning Nacreous Clouds visible in Swedish skies. They are formed in the lower Stratosphere at an altitude of about 15 KM to 25 KM. (NASA/ Dennis Lehtonen)
Comet ZTF
5/5 Comet ZTF meets Comet ATLAS (Feb 10) - NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for Feb 10 is breathtaking picture of the Comet ZTF racing across the skies as it passed another comet named Comet C/2022 U2 (ATLAS) near the constellation Auriga. Captured on the night of February 6 from a garden observatory in Germany's Bavarian Forest, the starry field of view toward the constellation Auriga spans about 2.5 degrees.  (NASA/Stefan Bemmerl)
Comet ZTF
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Astrophotographer Donato Lioce captured Comet ZTF as it swept past Mars. (NASA/Donato Lioce)

Although comets often make close flybys, the Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is particularly special as it has a period of around 50,000 years. That means the last time it flew past Earth closely, it was witnessed by Neanderthals during the Upper Paleolithic period on Earth nearly 50000 years ago. Comet ZTF recently made its trip to Earth and came closest to the planet on February 1, after which it went on its journey again. A couple of days ago, the comet came across another nearby comet called Comet C/2022 U2 (ATLAS) near the constellation Auriga. Now, Comet ZTF has been captured passing Mars.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a picturesque image of Comet ZTF as it swept past Mars on February 10 and 11. Although it wasn't visible visually, its picture was captured by astronomers as it appeared as a long faint object speeding away from the Sun. Its dust tail and ion tail were captured towards the bottom-right and the top of the image respectively. The picture was captured by Donato Lioce, an Italian astrophotographer based in France, from Matterhorn, a mountain in the Italian Alps.

NASA's description of the picture

No, Comet ZTF is not going to hit Mars. Nicknamed the Green Comet for its bright green coma, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) did, however, pass almost in front of the much-more distant planet a few days ago, very near in time to when the featured picture was taken. The two sky icons were here captured behind a famous Earth icon -- the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Italian Alps with a picturesque peak. Both the foreground and background images were taken on the same evening by the same camera and from the same location.

The comet's white dust tail is visible to the right of the green coma, while the light blue ion tail trails towards the top of the image. Orange Mars is well in front of the numerous background stars as well as the dark nebula Barnard 22 to its lower right. Although Mars remains visible in the evening sky for the next few months, Comet ZTF has already begun to fade as it returns to the outer Solar System.

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First Published Date: 13 Feb, 12:20 IST
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