Green comet 2023 – live: How to see E3 in sky tonight before it disappears forever

We’ve received some great photos of the green comet taken by amateur astronomers.

The four below were taken by Nelson Decker, Scott Kardel, Jeffrey D’Elia and Didier Cowen, who were all using Unistellar telescopes.

The digital telescopes are described by Unistellar as “nearly foolproof” for even novice skywatchers, allowing them to track and capture objects in the sky through a companion app.

A green comet that will be visible from Earth for the first time since the Ice Age appears to be undergoing unusual changes.

Comet ZTF has created excitement in recent weeks as it has hurtled towards Earth, coming close enough to the planet that it should be visible to the naked eye. It will be the first close approach for 50,000 years, and reached its closest point on 1 February.

New pictures of the object appear to show that its tail has become detached. Images taken by comet hunter Michael Jäger, for instance, make it look as if the tail is breaking off.

Andrew Griffin reports.

Unfortunately for UK sky gazers, the cloud cover that blocked the green comet last night is set to continue this evening.

The latest forecasts from the Met Office show the whole of the UK and Ireland covered in cloud on Thursday and Friday evening.

The good news is the cloud will almost comletely clear on Saturday night, offering great views of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Here is the current forecast for midnight tonight:

And this is the forecast for 4am on Sunday morning:

Space photographer Miguel Claro has captured several stunning images of the green comet from the Dark Sky Alqueva Observatory in Portugal.

The astrophotographer has even made a video of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)’s progress across the night’s sky.

The SETI Institute notes that “something unusual” is happening with the comet’s green and blue tail, as the long ion trail experiences something known as a disconnection event.

The images and footage has been shared on social media, which you can see below.

The green comet ZTF is currently at its closest position relative to the Earth, zooming past the planet at about 57km/s at a distance of merely 26 million miles.

Its brightness has been estimated to be at a magnitude of about +6 – almost the threshold of what can be visible to the naked eye – and is also expected to be the brightest such space rock to zoom past Earth this year.

The brightness of objects in the sky is measured on a scale of apparent magnitude by astronomers.

The brighter an object, the greater its negative number and the dimmer it is, the greater will be the positive number.

For instance, the sun has –26 magnitude compared with the full moon whose magnitude is around –13 magnitude to the naked eye.

The brightest planet in the sky – Venus – is estimated to have a magnitude of about -3 to -4, and large comets that achieve a similar brightness are unofficially called great comets.

The comet Bennett, discovered by amateur astronomer John Caister Bennett in 1969, was a magnitude 8.5 object.

The 1986 visit by the famous Halley’s comet had a magnitude of about +2 while its next pass expected in July 2061 is estimated to likely have a fairly spectacular brightness of about –0.3.

The comet Bennett, discovered in 1969 by South African amateur astronomer John Caister Bennett, was a magnitude 8.5 object when it was first identified.

Some of the faintest stars visible to the unaided eye have magnitudes of about 6.5.

If you’re yet to catch a glimpse of the green comet, we’ve got a round-up of images captured by professional and amateur astronomers in recent days.

One picture, from the New Scientist’s Abby Beall, was notable not for its spectacular nature but for its help in seeing the comet. As she noted, the comet might not actually be easily visible – but spotting it might be possible using a phone, as well as the helpful map that she assembled.

You can see all of the pictures here:

The green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was found in March 2022 by astronomers from the Zwicky Transient Facility.

Researchers used ZTF’s robotic camera and software developed by staff scientist Frank Masci to detect a moving object.

It was initially thought to be an asteroid, but the space rock’s condensed coma and its trajectory indicated it was a comet.

“This particular object was spotted because of its motion in a sequence of images taken by ZTF,” said Tom Prince, professor of physics from the Keck Institute for Space Studies.

“At the time it was discovered, it was not known to be a comet. That came later after follow-up observations by many telescopes worldwide,” Dr Prince said.

The comet has come closest to Earth today at about 41 million km (26 million miles) away, and after that, it is expected to disappear into the darkness of space, likely never to be seen by humans again.

Scientists studying the green comet’s orbit trajectory say it is in an open “hyperbolic orbit,” meaning it may not return to the inner Solar System again.

Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the UK Royal Astronomical Society, told Newsweek that the comet’s orbit shape looks like a “very open curve.”

Astronomers, including Franck Marchis from the SETI Institute, also say the comet may “soon escape the Solar System entirely” due to its orbit.

“This is probably the last time this comet will ever be visible to us, or to anyone living on Earth....But maybe in a distant future, another intelligent species will see it coming close to their sun and their own home planet,” Dr Marchis tweeted.

“In that sense, this comet is carrying a piece of us – of all humanity – into the cosmos,” he said.

The green comet is currently making its closest path of Earth in 50,000 years. This graphic, made using Nasa and JPL-Caltech data, shows the path of the green comet as it passes through the solar system.

You can find an excellent indepth visual explainer on the comet right here.