Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on 10.02.2023

 
  Size: 1800 px      
 
© Velimir Popov & Emil Ivanov 2023
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on 2 March 2022. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet nucleus was estimated to be about a kilometer in size, rotating every 8.7 hours. Its tails of dust and gas extended for millions of kilometers and, during January 2023, a third anti-tail was visible. The comet reached its perihelion on 12 January 2023, at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km; 103 million mi), and the closest approach to Earth was on 1 February 2023, at a distance of 0.28 AU (42 million km). The comet reached magnitude 5 and was visible with the naked eye under moonless dark skies. This image shows the comet on the night of February 10th using the new TS-Optics Ritchey-Chretien RC16 Pro, D = 406 mm (16”), f/8.

Image details:

Annotation

Center of field RA 04:49:27 (h:m:s)
Center of field DE +26:52:33 (deg:m:s)
Size 46.2 x 43.7 (arcmin)
Pixel scale: 1.54 (arcsec/pixel)
Orientation: Up is 359.7 degrees E of N
Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net
Optic(s): TS-Optics Ritchey-Chretien RC16 Pro, D = 406 mm (16”), f/8
Mount: ASA DDM85 Premium
Camera: MORAVIAN C4-16000 cooled scientific CMOS
Filters:  B, V, R, (Bessel) filters
Dates/Times: 10. feb. 2023
Location: IRIDA Observatory, BG, longitude: E 24 44' 18", latitude: N 41 41' 42"
Exp. Details: R:5x1 min, V::5x1 min, B:5x1 min, Bin 1, Total Exposure Time - 15 min.
More details: Dark and flat frames reduction
Processing: PixInsight / PS
 
Copyright: Velimir Popov and Emil Ivanov 2013 - 2023. All Rights Reserved
 
e-mail: info@irida-observatory.org
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