Tomorrow night a comet will appear in close proximity to the red planet Mars. The comet known as the "Green Comet," has a scientific name C/2022 E3 ZTF and has been watched by astronomers for months. Unfortunately, it is extremely faint. It is too dim to see even with binoculars for many.
You have a chance to see it if you have powerful binoculars and or at least a small telescope. Look in the area close to the red planet Mars, now in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, almost directly overhead around 8 p.m.
In addition to being difficult to see, lighting has been an encumbrance. A brilliant gibbous moon will rising in the east and it will make the overall sky too bright. So look before the moon gets to high in the East.
A full moon in the past week has been troublesome too.
Faint comets are hard to observe. Even among amateur astronomers, comets like this are a challenge unless one has a current star chart with the comet depicted amid nearby stars. There are a number of sources on the Internet which will help. Tomorrow night will be perfect, with Mars marking the site. Only requirement is clear dark skies and one needs a powerful pair of binoculars. If you see it, the comet will look like a fuzzy faint dim star with not much color.
Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
---|---|---|
Fri., Feb. 10 | 6:44 | 5:08 |
Sat., Feb. 11 | 6:42 | 5:09 |
Sun., Feb. 12 | 6:41 | 5:10 |
Mon., Feb. 13 | 6:40 | 5:12 |
Tues., Feb. 14 | 6:38 | 5:13 |
Wed., Feb. 15 | 6:37 | 5:14 |
Thurs., Feb. 16 | 6:36 | 5:15 |
Fri., Feb. 17 | 6:34 | 5:17 |
Day | Max (Fº) | Min (Fº) | Inches |
---|---|---|---|
Feb. 3 | 38 | 28 | 0.00 |
Feb. 4 | 29 | -5 | 0.00 |
Feb. 5 | 44 | -4 | 0.00 |
Feb. 6 | 49 | 40 | 0.00 |
Feb. 7 | 45 | 30 | 0.00 |
Feb. 8 | 44 | 30 | 0.10 |
Feb. 9 | 50 | 28 | 0.00 |
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