The Green Comet: Comet ZTF

       Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was near Mars in the Taurus constellation, allowing it to be spotted as it accelerated away from Earth. The comet flew close to the Red Planet from February 9th to 14th, then began to approach the Orion and Eridanus constellations. This month, Mars sits high in the night sky about an hour after sunset for watchers in the continental United States, making the comet ideal for early evening viewing.

       Comet ZTF was found and named on March 2, 2022, by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). The comet comes from the Oort cloud. It is a long-period comet and exhibits a vivid green glow around its core due to the action of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. 

       Comet ZTF is still visible in the night sky with binoculars and a telescope. The comet's nucleus and murky green coma are easily discernible through the telescope. According to EarthSky, the comet was projected to be 26 million miles to 27 million miles (approximately 42 million kilometers to 44 million kilometers) distant at its closest approach. According to EarthSky, even at its closest approach, the comet was still more than 100 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

       Dr. Gianluca Masi of Italy's Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory saw the comet's closest approach at 12:56 p.m. ET Wednesday. The comet was only 26.4 million miles (42.5 million kilometers) from Earth. According to CNN, astronomers noticed it as a dim green smudge near the brilliant star Polaris, popularly known as the North Star, when the comet approaches Earth. Because of their present orbital locations and chemical compositions, comets reflect distinct light hues.

       Though many comets also have a green glow, Mr. Buczyna, Oakton’s Physics and Astronomy teacher, believes that Comet ZTF is seen as rare “because it had more of a green color”.

       Many people believe asteroid collisions ended life and also started life on Earth. Mr. Bucynza thinks, “We became an ocean world [due to asteroid collisions with earth]. Every amino acid [needed for life] has been found in nearly every meteoroid”.

       Asteroid collisions with Earth can cause a tremendous and small amount of damage depending on their size. “The Green Comet might cause extinction. It would probably increase temperatures for a few years, then return to normal”. According to NASA, the building elements of life could have been provided by later impacts that brought water and carbon-based molecules to the Earth’s surface after the initial come and asteroid deluge on the planet had partially faded. It is possible that the formation of life on Earth's surface may have been initially delayed by a massive flux of colliding comets and asteroids, and then permitted by a considerably less intensive comet rain that occurred between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago.

       Only the most adaptable species evolved further due to comets' dual role in the origin of life on Earth, which dates back to around 3.8 billion years ago. Subsequent cometary collisions may have destroyed many of the developing life forms. More than 75% of the Earth's living things, including the dinosaurs, presumably went extinct in a major extinction event 65 million years ago when an asteroid or comet impacted close to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. The mammals were tiny burrowing critters at the time, and they appeared to have survived the cataclysmic collision with little trouble.

       Comet ZTF was seen at the beginning of February 2023. Founded on March 2, 2022, the comet comes from the Oort cloud. The sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen reveals a vivid green glow around its core. Comets and asteroids have the ability to affect life on earth such as mass extinctions and also starting life. As humans, we can contribute our life to the collisions of asteroids and comets with Earth.