When I started this website early in the COVID pandemic, I didn’t expect so many bright comets to grace our skies within a few years. Just as Comet ATLAS started disintegrating on March 22, 2020, astronomers discovered a new comet on March 27 named Comet Neowise. Now, Comet ZTF has arrived with its fuzzy presence. Where Comet Neowise marked the beginning of the pandemic, Comet ZTF marks the closing.
In March 2022, astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar discovered Comet ZTF, a long-period comet that last passed our way during the Stone Age. Astronomers predict the comet is most likely on its way out of the solar system to never return. It’s that, or it may return millions of years from now via the Oort Cloud. Either way, this will be the green comet’s only showing for us. Farewell, Comet ZTF, and thanks for visiting.
My Observations
| Date | January 29, 2023 |
| Time | 12:05 a.m. |
| Location | Seattle, WA |
| Camera | Canon 70d |
| Seeing | Above Average |
| Transparency | Above Average |
Last night, I left the telescope behind and only took my pair of binoculars and Canon 70d DSLR on a SkyTracker. I almost didn’t go out to meet the comet. It was midnight on a frigid Saturday. Plenty of reasons to stay inside knocked around my head. But, then, I thought of how rare clear nights appear in the Pacific Northwest in winter. My mind turned toward the diary of Caroline Herschel; I’ve been reading her recollections of surveying the skies with her famous brother William 250 years ago. I imagined she wouldn’t let the cold nights in Bath stop her, for the pursuit of seeing an icy body melting at midnight surpasses most experiences under a darkened sky.
I set up the tripod with the camera, but then I stopped, ran back to my front porch, and grabbed the binoculars. The quiet midnight hour belonged to me—and this green comet. I focused on Polaris and then slowly scanned to the right (east). Within only a few seconds, the comet’s green glow entered my view! Here we were, two bodies making their way along the firmament. I stared at the green haze and thought of Neowise back in the summer of 2020.
I slept soundly that night—better than I had in three years.
Sources and Notes
The banner photo of Comet ZTF was taken by Auvo Korpi on January 27, 2023, two nights before I posted my observations on this page. The photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license, and the original source is on Flickr.
The Garden Astronomer 
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