Once in 50,000-year comet may be visible to the naked eye

They were written by Daniel and Daniel.

The comet could be seen to the naked eye as it passes by Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks.

The comet is named after the facility that spotted it passing Jupiter.

On January 12 it will be closest to the Sun and closest to Earth on February 1.

It will be easy to spot if the sky is not too bright by city lights or the Moon.

Thomas Prince, a physics professor at the California Institute of Technology, told Agence France-Presse that the comet will be bright when it is close to the Earth.

Nicolas Biver, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory, said that the comet is made of ice and dust and emits a greenish aura.

The last comet visible with an eye was NEOWISE, which passed Earth in March 2020 with a diameter of around 60 kilometers.

Biver said that the new visit may make up for the fact that it is not very large.

A full moon could make spotting the comet difficult.

Biver suggested the last week of January, when the comet will pass between the two stars.

There is a good chance for stargazers during the weekend of January 21-22.

Biver said that the object could be twice as bright as anticipated.

When the comet passes close to Mars, there will be another chance to find it.

It's a rare visitor.

The comet has traveled at least 2,500 times farther away from the Earth than the sun.

Biver said the comet was believed to have come from the Oort Cloud.

Neanderthals were present on Earth during the Upper Paleolithic period.

The comet is expected to visit the inner Solar System in another 50,000 years, according to Prince.

The comet could be permanently ejected from the Solar System after this visit.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be watched by a lot of people. Biver said that it won't take pictures but will study the comet's composition.

It is easier for telescopes to measure the comet's composition when it is close to Earth.

He said that this rare visitor will give us information about the inhabitants of our Solar system well beyond the most distant planets.

2020