How to see green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) as it approaches Earth

[Admin]

Look in the northern skies during the early morning hours and green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) may be visible to the naked eye.

How to see green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) as it approaches Earth : Read more

 

[rod]

Some early morning comet viewing today Easy to see now using 10x50 binoculars and my 90-mm refractor telescope.

Observed 0200-0330 EST. First Quarter Moon 28-Jan-2023 1519 UT. Easy to locate C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet this morning. Theskylive.com reports magnitude 5.6 now. Stellarium 1.2 shows C/2022 E3 (ZTF) about 1 degree 51 arcminute angular separation from Edasich in Draco when I started observing. Distinct, bright 10x50 binocular view and simple to locate using Telrad with my 90-mm refractor telescope. I used TeleVue 14-mm Delos eyepiece (71x) for a bit more than 60-arcminute true FOV along with 10x50 binoculars. Draco stars HIP74756 (7.60 magnitude) and TYC4181-1286-1 (8.90 magnitude) are about 8 arcminutes apart from each other, visible in the FOV with the comet. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) distinct coma about same angular size (8 arcminutes), visible with slight fan shape and some tail now, perhaps 15-20 arcminutes faintly visible across the FOV at 71x using. Stellarium 1.2 reports coma diameter about 17 arcminutes or so and gas tail length close to 1.5-degrees. Other fainter stars visible along with C/2022 E3 (ZTF). This was fun comet observing with clear skies, temperature -2C, winds 280/5 knots. I started observing comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on 24-Dec-2022 when magnitude 8.59 was reported. I did not see unaided eyes because of light pollution towards N and NE sectors, I can see about 5.0 or so magnitude stars in those directions but very easy using 10x50 binoculars now and 90-mm refractor telescope. The woodburning stove was running when I came back inside.

 

[Chumgrinder]

Disappointed so far.
Three nights in a row in dark-sky, using my Celestron Astro Fi 130mm, seeing nothing at the target spot, recalibrating, recalibrating...
After recalibrating again tonight, all I can see is the faintest huge green cloud, had to convince myself I wasn't imagining it. Nothing resembling definition or a tail, much less an anti-tail. Think I had seen this on previous nights, but dismissed it as eyestrain. This was hyped as such a great comet, "naked eye," the whole works.

 

[rod]

Chumgrinder in post #3, I am glad you could see the green cloud In my 90-mm refactor telescope at 71x, not very distinct green color but mostly grayish or somewhat darker color when I compared with some white colored stars in the FOV. I tracked this comet now 6 observations starting 24-Dec-2022. It is no Neowise comet that I enjoyed during July 2020. Another good comet view was Leonard (C/2021 A1) that I viewed 4x in December 2021. Notable because the faint fuzzy passed near M3 early morning 03-Dec-2021.

From what I can tell just reading reports, many in my MS EDGE browser, this comet is linked backed to Neanderthals during the time of mammoths and ice age when commonly promoted to the public . This site I use to check comet orbital elements published. https://minorplanetcenter.net//

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) eccentricity is slightly larger than 1 so the comet is not in a closed orbit with the Sun.

 

[rod]

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is an evening comet now I enjoyed some views last night but still mostly large fuzzy in the binoculars.

Observed 2000-2040 EST. I used 10x50 binoculars and viewed C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in Ursa Minor tonight. It was fuzzy and theskylive.com reports 5.6 magnitude. I observed the waxing crescent Moon in Pisces and M42 in Orion. Altocumulus clouds moved in. The sky was partly cloudy and then mostly cloudy, so it was difficult to view. Looking at the comet in NNE sky, at my location only about magnitude 4.5 stars visible due to light pollution in the northern sky. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now an evening comet but the location is in an area of sky with more light pollution. For me, it was notable that C/2022 E3 (ZTF), framed by Thuban in Draco, Beta Umi (Kochab), and Pherkad in Ursa Minor. beta UMi b is an exoplanet orbiting Kochab. In the 10x50 binocular view, it was a red giant star clearly as its spectral class K4-III. The exoplanet information can be found at: http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/beta_umi_b/, and the NASA exoplanet archive site, https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/overview/bet UMi b#planet_bet-UMi-b_collapsible It was interesting to consider when I looked at C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the red giant star about 4.5-degrees angular separation (Kochab in Ursa Minor), had an exoplanet orbiting it. 2250 EST update. Easier to see C/2022 E3 (ZTF) using 10x50 binoculars at this time. Better elevation angle and darker sky. The comet was a large brighter fuzzy with somewhat fan shape appearance. This is now an evening comet to see.

 

[billslugg]

Rod got me out on a chilly night as I finally saw C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
Swept it up at 8:20PM EST tonight, Feb 1, 2023, 13° to the east of Polaris, 19.5° higher. I observed from my front yard in Albany, GA, a city of 70,000 people, with LED streetlights on either side of me, house lights everywhere and a waxing gibbous Moon nearly straight overhead only about 50° from the comet. I had to drape a coat over everything to keep the light out. I used a set of Celestron 25x100 Skymaster binoculars on a Quickset tripod 4-70150 with a 4-72853 head. Steady as a rock and a joy to use.
The comet was a faint smudge, very small, no structure, no tail, no color. I tried star hopping from Polaris, scanned around for about 30 minutes to no avail, finally went inside and checked Heavens Above. It was at elevation 49.5°. I marked a protractor, took it outside and set the angle, guesstimated 13° to the right of Polaris and there it was. Much higher in the sky than I originally thought. Watched it for about 15 minutes until 8:35PM when it started to cloud over and I lost it. Quite a thrill. Thank you Rod for your persistence.
This is comet #4 for me:
1965 - Ikeya Seki
1985-86 Halley
1995 - Hale Bopp
2023 - ZTF

 

[Chumgrinder]

The comet was a faint smudge, very small, no structure, no tail, no color.

Pretty much my experience tonight. Clear sky, same moon (obviously). It was a spread-out, faint wisp that you could convince yourself was green if you hoped hard enough. Many of the "pretty" photos online of this comet are taken at long exposures, so anybody expecting to see anything that striking with eyeballs is in for a disappointment.

My grandson was disappointed as well, but I used the occasion to show him a nice moon closeup and a fine view of Jupiter with three bright moons, so I salvaged all my grandpa points for today.

 

[rod]

Rod got me out on a chilly night as I finally saw C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
Swept it up at 8:20PM EST tonight, Feb 1, 2023, 13° to the east of Polaris, 19.5° higher. I observed from my front yard in Albany, GA, a city of 70,000 people, with LED streetlights on either side of me, house lights everywhere and a waxing gibbous Moon nearly straight overhead only about 50° from the comet. I had to drape a coat over everything to keep the light out. I used a set of Celestron 25x100 Skymaster binoculars on a Quickset tripod 4-70150 with a 4-72853 head. Steady as a rock and a joy to use.
The comet was a faint smudge, very small, no structure, no tail, no color. I tried star hopping from Polaris, scanned around for about 30 minutes to no avail, finally went inside and checked Heavens Above. It was at elevation 49.5°. I marked a protractor, took it outside and set the angle, guesstimated 13° to the right of Polaris and there it was. Much higher in the sky than I originally thought. Watched it for about 15 minutes until 8:35PM when it started to cloud over and I lost it. Quite a thrill. Thank you Rod for your persistence.
This is comet #4 for me:
1965 - Ikeya Seki
1985-86 Halley
1995 - Hale Bopp
2023 - ZTF

"I used a set of Celestron 25x100 Skymaster binoculars on a Quickset tripod 4-70150 with a 4-72853 head. Steady as a rock and a joy to use."

Very nice Hale Bopp was a great comet to view.