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Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) visible after 50,000 years

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is visible in the sky above the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernadino County as it approaches Earth for the first time in about 50,000 years on Tuesday near Baker, California. The comet was discovered on March 2, 2022, and will be at its closest point to Earth on February 1, 2023. Its orbit extends far out into our solar system and has a green aura because it is passing close enough to the sun for the outgassing of its diatomic carbon molecules to react with the solar wind.