Residents of the United Arab Emirates will have the rare opportunity to witness a once-in-a-lifetime comet from the outer solar system as it makes its closest pass to Earth in 50,000 years.
Named Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF), the celestial phenomenon will be visible to the naked eye and through binoculars and small telescopes from January to early February.
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The comet’s closest approach to Earth will be on February 1, at a distance of approximately 26 million miles, several local media reports quoted Dubai Astronomy Group CEO Hasan al-Hariri as saying. Although the comet’s brightness is uncertain, al-Hariri assured that it will be visible regardless.
The Dubai Astronomy Group (DAG) will host a ticketed event for the rare celestial sighting in the Al Qudra desert in Dubai on February 4.
Ticket prices for the event are as follows: general admission is AED 120 ($32), children under 13 are AED 100 ($27) and members of the Astronomy Group of Dubai (DAG) can attend for AED 70 ($19). Financial assistance is available for family members of DAG members.
The program of the event includes an introduction, a talk about the comet observation and the observation of the comet itself. There will also be a session on Arabic astronomy, sky maps and a question and answer session. Telescopes will be available throughout the night to view Jupiter, Mars, the Moon and other deep sky objects, as well as the opportunity to take photographs of celestial objects through the telescopes.
DAG will provide pick-up and drop-off services from Centerpoint Metro Station for an additional fee of AED 50 ($13) per person.
The transportation schedule for February 4 is as follows: pick up at 16:45 (GMT +4), departure at 17:20, arrival at the event site at 18:20, start of event at 18:40, end of event at 21:30, departure from event site at 21:50 and alighting at Centerpoint tube station at 22:50.
Discovered by astronomers using the Wide Field Survey Camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in early March last year, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has dazzled researchers with its stunning brightness.
The comet is currently making its way across the northern constellation of Corona Borealis in the pre-dawn sky, although it is still too dark to be seen without a telescope.
Although it may not yet be visible to the naked eye, recent images captured with telescopes have revealed the comet’s striking greenish coma, short dust tail, and a long, faint ion tail stretching across a field of vision of 2.5 degrees.
As the comet continues its journey through the inner solar system, it reached its closest point to the sun, known as perihelion, on January 12 and its closest point to Earth, known as perigee, on February 1 .
Although the brightness of comets can be difficult to predict, it is possible that C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will then be visible to the naked eye in dark night skies.
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