Locations with no big towns or cities to their North will be ideal. It is best to leave the city lights behind.The following factors should be taken into consideration when viewing the comet: The comet will be located approximately between the constellations of the Little Dipper and the Large Dipper, as shown in the sky chart from the Haus der Astronomie (in English). During that time, the comet is expected to be particularly bright, while the Moon is relatively dark and below the horizon for a large fraction of the night. The period about January 20–February 1 will be best for viewing of the comet, with best conditions prevailing from about January 25–February 1. Below, we complement that guide with rise and set times for comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and the Moon. Avid observers should therefore monitor how the comet’s brightness develops.Īn excellent observing guide to comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has been compiled by the Haus der Astronomie (it’s in English!). However, many previous comets have brightened unexpectedly, and this might also happen to this comet. Current brightness data, as well as predictions for the future, are available here.Ĭurrent predictions indicate that C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be easily visible when using binoculars, but will not be observable with the naked eye. The comet is expected to be brightest around February 1, 2023. Especially because of the unexpected break in the weather it was a real treat to see the comet.Get ready: comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will become easily viewable with binoculars over the next few weeks! I tried repeatedly to see the comet naked eye, but no luck. I kept thinking I could see a hint of the tail pointing away from the Sun, with either averted vision or averted imagination. The comet was brighter than these stars, I would guess around fourth magnitude, with a bright center and a nonstellar coma. Starting about one hour after sunset and for about 20 minutes, the comet was very easy to see in 10x42 image stabilized binoculars, about 20 degrees left of Venus, 15 degrees lower left of Saturn, and conveniently placed between fifth-magnitude Alpha and Gamma Microscopii. The clouds came back but the sky stayed mostly clear to the southwest. Venus was visible before sunset, so I walked up Bernal Hill to look for Comet Leonard. Thursday afternoon 23 December the sky cleared and the rain stopped. Here in San Francisco we've been having a spell of mostly cloudy skies and much needed rain. You’ll need transparent skies, an unobstructed horizon, and binoculars or a small telescope to see it. But if you live in the northern half of the country, it practically scrapes the horizon with an altitude of just 3° to 5°. the comet perches a reasonable 10° to 12° high at mid-twilight and may be faintly visible with the naked eye. The comet’s altitude at the time was about 10°.Ĭomet Leonard currently glows around magnitude 4 and hovers very low in the southwestern sky an hour to 75 minutes after sunset for North American skywatchers. Comet Leonard shows off a pretty tail several degrees long on December 19, 2021, from Payson, Arizona. The cause of each outburst is likely due to vaporization of fresh, dust-laden ice from solar heating as the comet dashes sunward. Expecting to see a fuzzy glow, the coma instead looked like a bright “star” in her 90-mm refractor. Amateur astronomer Piqui Diaz of Ezeiza, Argentina, noted a condensed but hazy coma on December 19.01 UT, but one night later, the comet’s appearance caught her completely off guard. Like water from a rotary lawn sprinkler, dust jets blast from the comet’s false nucleus in this carefully processed image from December 23, 2021.Įach flare began with a dramatic brightening of the comet’s “false nucleus” - a bright starlike concentration within the coma.
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