Vancouver photographer captures stunning shot of a rare green comet (PHOTO)

Feb 1 2023, 6:24 pm

An ultra-rare green comet has been dazzling sky-gazers as it passes by Earth, and a local photographer took some amazing shots of it.

The comet, named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was first discovered in March 2022. It’s making a pass by Earth right now and scientists are divided as to whether it will ever come back or if it’ll be 50,000 years until we see it again.

Luckily,Ā Vancouver photographer Liron GertsmanĀ captured it in all its glory.

On January 28, when the skies were clear, he woke up at 2 am and went far away from the city lights to try and capture it on camera.

comet

@liron_gertsman_photography/Instagram

According to Gertsman, it looks like a faint star with a bit of glow around it to the naked eye. You can get more detail with a telescope or binoculars, but long-exposure photography is the best way to see it. The way he framed the shot, you can see dark tree branches in the foreground.

“Long exposure photographs are required to uncover the comet in all of its glory, including two tails: the ion tail (straight and blue-ish), and the dust tail (fan-shaped and warmer in colour). Also visible in this image is the bright turquoise atmosphere of the comet, known as the coma.ā ”

Take a look at the comet as shared on Instagram:

Framed by the trees, “No two comets are the same, and with a 50,033 year orbit around the sun, this one won’t be visiting us in the inner solar system again anytime soon,” said Gertsman.

“Despite traveling past our planet at nearly 40 kilometers per second, its distance from Earth means it appears stationary to the eye. The comet reaches its peak brightness on February 1, but is likely to remain visible for a bit longer, and photographable for some time,” wrote Gertsman.

If you want a chance to see the comet, pray for the rain to clear!

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