C/2020 F3 - NEOWISE

Discovered earlier this year, C2022E3 is a comet that has captured the attention of astronomers around the world. As it travels through our solar system, it produces a beautiful tail of gas and dust that can be seen from Earth. One of the most interesting things about C2022E3 is its origin. Scientists believe that it may have come from the distant Oort Cloud, a region of space that is believed to contain billions of icy objects that were formed in the early days of our solar system.

C2022E3 is currently passing through the inner solar system and is visible to amateur astronomers with telescopes or binoculars. The presence of diatomic carbon, chiefly around the head of the comet, is likely the reason for its green color. When exposed to solar ultraviolet radiation, the excited C2 molecule primarily emits in infrared, but its triplet state releases radiation at 518 nm (nanometers).

It is produced through the photolysis of organic materials that evaporate from the nucleus, followed by additional photolysis. The green glow appears in the head of the comet after about two days, but not in the tail. The comet's spectrum in the range of 5000 to 7000 Å shows numerous emission lines of NH2, C2, and [OI]. These findings were similar to observations made of comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard).