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'It's my Ex': Internet jokes about green comet that'll pass by Earth for first time after 50,000 years

'I will wait for the next time it comes around, I suspect it will be brighter then,' one person wrote

WASHINGTON DC, WASHINGTON: A rare comet, with a dashing bright green nucleus and dubbed the 'green comet', will approach Earth for what might be the first time since the Stone Age, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There are chances that you will be able to see the comet in the sky around late January or early February, dependening on where you are located.

The comet, designated C/2022 E3 (ZTF) by NASA, was found by astronomers in March 2022. They had never seen it before because it takes tens of thousands of years to complete an orbit around the sun. Modern astronomy wasn't around when this comet previously passed near our planet. On February 2, the comet is anticipated to be roughly 26 million miles away from Earth. Experts estimate it would mark the closest approach to Earth in the past 50,000 years. Prior close encounter with the comet is believed to have taken place during the Upper Paleolithic Period, when humans had left Africa and settled in Asia and Europe. This was also the time when Neanderthals were still wandering the planet, which was undergoing an Ice Age.

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The green comet should be visible in the Northern Hemisphere during the end of January, just before dawn. NASA predicts that when it approaches Earth, spectators will be able to see it using binoculars, however viewing it early may require a telescope.

"The new long-period comet has brightened substantially and is now sweeping across the northern constellation Corona Borealis in predawn skies," NASA stated in a press release on December 24. The green cosmic snowball will be seen in the Southern Hemisphere in the initial days of February.

People on the Internet have shared their thoughts on the green comet making it's approach towards Earth after 50,000 years with one person writing, "Cool! That'll make a huge difference in inflation. jfc people." A second person who related their romantic experiences with the green comet wrote, "I know about this. It's my Ex."

Another user who was eager to witness the comet when it next returns wrote, "I will wait for the next time it comes around, I suspect it will be brighter then." One user who was interested in knowing who had previously recorded the green comet's close approach to Earth wrote, "Cool but who documented the previous passing? Really curious."

What is the green comet and Where does it come from?

The green comet, also known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is an icy celestial object that has a distinctive green appearance and streaking tails of dust and other particles. NASA describes the comet's features as a "greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and long faint ion tail." Laboratory research has linked the green aura to the dicarbon reactive molecule, which emits green light when exposed to sunlight.

Experts stated that the comet most likely originated from the Oort Cloud, which NASA described as a "big, thick-walled bubble made of icy pieces of space debris the sizes of mountains and sometimes larger," as reported by USA Today. NASA claims that the Oort Cloud is the most remote region of our solar system and surrounds everything like a "giant spherical shell."