(ORDO NEWS) — Astrophotographers spotted what appeared to be a third tail leading in front of, rather than behind, the luminous comet.
The green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which last passed Earth 50,000 years ago, when Neanderthals still coexisted with humans, has been gradually crossing the night sky over the past few days.
Many astronomers have obtained images of the glowing space rock, and one new image shows the comet has grown an unusual third tail.
This “anti-tail” appears to be flowing in the wrong direction and therefore appears to violate the laws of physics.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is often referred to as the “green comet” because of its green glowing coma, a shell that forms around comets as they approach the sun.
This comet was first discovered in March 2022 by astronomers from the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County (USA).
Comets such as C/2022 E3 (ZTF) usually have two tails. One of them consists of dust blown off the comet by the solar wind, and the other consists of gas sublimated directly from the solid state due to the increase in heat as the comet approaches the sun.
However, on January 21, several astrophotographers, including Ruslan Merzlyakov and Alessandro Carrozzi, from Denmark and Italy, respectively, took pictures of the comet with a third tail.
It is curious that this tail was directed towards the Sun, and not away from it, as is the case with the other two tails.
The green anti-tail comet is actually an optical illusion.
There is actually no “anti-tail” at all. This is an optical illusion caused by the movement of the Earth through the comet’s orbital plane.
As seen from Earth, the sun re-illuminated some of the dust drifting along the comet’s path.
Due to the angle, it may appear that this is the third tail emanating directly from the comet. In fact, however, this is an optical illusion.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.