Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF Passes by Planet Mars

Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF Passes by Planet Mars

"Last night 2/10/2023 Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF made a very close approach to Mars in our night sky passing about 1.3 degrees away from the Red Planet from our perspective here on Earth. In this image, you can also see some dusty reflection nebula in the background which also makes this scene quite interesting."

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on March 2, 2022. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen.

Learn more about Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2022_E3_(ZTF)

Technical details:

Captured on Feb. 10, 2023 

Total acquisition time: 24 minutes

Captured & processed by Tom Masterson and Terry Hancock

Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com - Purdy Mesa, Colorado

12 x 120 second exposures

Camera: QHY367 Pro C

Gain 2850, Offset 76

Optics: Takahashi FSQ 130 APO Refractor @ F5

EQ Mount: Paramount ME

Image Acquisition Software: Maxim DL6 Pre-Processing in PixInsight Post Processed in Photoshop CC

Credit: The Transient Astronomer (Tom Masterson)

Capture Location: Grand Mesa Observatory

Website: GrandMesaObservatory.com

Image Date: Feb. 10, 2023

Release Date: Feb. 11, 2023

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