Now's the time to look for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) as it puts on quite a show while passing by our planet through Thursday.
The Zwicky Transient Facility, aka ZTF, in Southern California discovered the dramatic object in March. It had been speeding in the direction of the sun up until Jan. 12 when it reached perihelion, its closest pass by the sun, before beginning a long journey back to the Oort Cloud on the edge of the solar system.
According to Joe Rao from both Space.com and New York's Hayden Planetarium, it won't return for roughly 50,000 years. This makes now the prime time to try to see it for yourself, as it appears to have brightened earlier than expected.
By some accounts, the comet is already visible to the naked eye from dark locations with minimal light pollution.
The comet is expected to be closest to Earth on Wednesday and Thursday, according to NASA, at which point it could become a magnitude five object, just bright enough to see with the unaided eye, though binoculars and very dark skies always help.
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