Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF) and Mars
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF, right) in a close encounter with Planet Mars (left) in the Taurus constellation as it passed the Earth on 13 February 2023. Discovered on 2nd March 2022, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet originating from the Oort cloud, which is approximately 149 billion kilometres away from our Sun. The comet gets its characteristic green glow from the ejection of diatomic carbon and cyanogen from its nucleus to the coma (atmosphere) as it is heated by the Sun. The comet has two tails, one composed of dust and the other composed of gas that is ionised by ultraviolet radiation, causing it to glow. Image captured from the Dark Sky Alqueva Observatory in Portugal.
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Photo credit: © MIGUEL CLARO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: -, /2022, 13, 2000s, 2020s, 2023, 21st, alqueva, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, c2022, carbon, century, coma, comet, cometary, comets, constellation, cyanogen, dark, diatomic, dust, e3, february, gas, green, ice, icy, ion, long, long-period, mars, night, period, planetary, science, sky, space, starry, stars, tail, tails, taurus, ztf
