Thursday, February 2, 2023

COMET ZTF FEATURING TWO ION TAILS WHILE CROSSING IN FRONT OF A GALAXY IN A COLORFUL STARFIELD Taken by Miguel Claro on January 24, 2023 @ Dark Sky Alqueva, Portugal





The image shows a close-up view of Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) during 24th January 2023. Besides the wonderful greenish coma from glowing carbon gas the image reveals a rare anti-tail due the fact that planet Earth was crossed the orbital plane of Comet ZTF showing the tail in perspective and immersed in a colorful starfield. One thing I noticed from the previews nights, is the low angle of the frontal tail compared to the images I made on 22th Janurary, as it now shows a slightly change in the angle. The comet if also featuring two distinct bluish ion tails and the white dust tail on the image, is crossing in front of a background galaxy. The comet was photographed late in the night at a distance of 59.8 million Km from Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Portugal. This long distance traveller not seen in 50,000 years, is moving fast against the background starry sky, and that night it was located close to the star Edasich, from Draco constellation, showing a faint visual magnitude of +6.0. On 1st February the Comet it will be in the closest point to our planet and eventually until then, it could reach a naked eye magnitude.


Photographer's website:

https://www.miguelclaro.com/wp/portfolio/comet-e3-ztf-featuring-two-ion-tails-while-crossing-in-front-of-a-galaxy/

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