The green comet that will be visible for the first time in 50,000 years is going through an unusual phenomenon: its tail appears to be coming off

The green comet that will be visible from Earth for the first time since the ice age appears to be affected by an unusual phenomenon, reports The Independent.

Comet ZTF has been causing excitement in recent weeks as it comes close enough to Earth to be visible to the naked eye. It is happening for the first time in 50,000 years, and the closest distance to Earth will be recorded on February 1.

New images of the celestial body appear to show that its tail has been detached. One of the photos was taken by comet hunter Michael Jäger.

Scientists say it’s a “disconnect event,” where the comet’s tail is swept away by the solar wind. A 2018 study described that event as “the most remarkable phenomenon” of the plasma tails that form behind comets.

The phenomenon occurs during intense moments of solar wind. It separates the comet’s tail from its head and is believed to be the result of an electrostatic field building up behind it.

In some cases, the disconnection can be so strong that the tail is torn off the comet.

At the end of January, the green comet will be 42 million kilometers from Earth – a third of the distance from Earth to the Sun. In the last days of January and on February 1, it will be at its closest point to Earth and will be best observed, given that the Moon’s light will be less intense. And the weather conditions must allow this.

With any luck, the comet might be visible to the naked eye and will certainly be visible with binoculars or a telescope.

The comet, which is estimated to be about one kilometer in diameter, was discovered in March 2022 by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) sky observation program, which uses the Samuel-Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.

When a comet approaches the Sun, the ice in the comet’s nucleus sublimates and leaves behind a long trail of dust that reflects the Sun’s light.

Comet ZTF’s tail measures around 50,000 kilometers and shines in shades of green. According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the green color is given by a gas resulting from the interaction with the heat from the sun’s rays.

According to the information so far, comets come from two reservoirs: the Kuiper Belt, located beyond the orbit of Neptune, or the Oort Cloud, a vast theoretical area that extends up to a distance of one light-year from the Sun, at the limit of the gravitational field of it.

Publisher: MB