Two astrophotographers have managed to capture stunning images of the rare green comet with Mars in the nightsky. The images, which show off the comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in full fashion are stunning and something that every skywatcher should see.
This once-in-a-lifetime comet has been making headlines quite a bit over the past several weeks because it isn’t expected to fly through our inner solar system for another 50,000 years at the least. This latest image showcases the green comet with Mars as it flies by the planet on its way out of the inner solar system.
The two astrophotographers, Antoine and Dalia Grelin, made two attempts to capture photos of the green comet passing by the Red Planet. The first attempt showed the green comet streaking towards Mars, and was taken in the Las Vegas desert.
Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to set up the second attempt in the desert due to bad weather and concerns over coyotes. “Shortly after we started capturing the comet, some type of coyote or wild dog found us and it was scary,” Antoine told PetaPixel.
He says that they watched for the comet as long as they felt was safe to do so, and then packed up and left. The next night they utilized a telescope they had set up in the Utah desert to capture a much better image of the green comet with Mars.
This second image – you can see both in the tweets above – is much clearer because of how much closer the comet is to the Red Planet. Additionally, the weather over in Utah was fantastic that night, allowing for clear skies to capture the green comet with Mars in great detail.
The couple shared the images on their Twitter, and they also have a website where you can see some of their previous work.
