Did YOU see the green comet last seen by the Neanderthals that whizzed past Earth last night?

Last night, a rare green comet whizzed past Earth for the first time since the age of the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago.

Budding astronomers headed outside in the February cold to try and get a glimpse of the fleeting spectacle, about 26.4 million miles (42.5 million km) away from our planet. 

While some stargazers were left disappointed as they were unable to spot the speedy space rock due to cloud cover and poor weather conditions, others were able to capture the comet, which in most cases appeared to look like nothing more than a faint green smudge.

Those who did manage to photograph Comet C2022/E3, which was only discovered last year, were using specialists camera equipment, telescopes or binoculars to aid them.

The comet is now expected to slowly fade away from our skies over the next week, although there will still be opportunities to try and spot it. 

The next easiest time to see the comet will be on February 5, when it will be next to the bright star Capella in the Auriga constellation, or between February 9 and 13, when it will shine next to Mars in the Taurus constellation. 

The brightness of the planet and the stars may make it easier to spot the comet in the sky, astronomers say.

Thousands of people around the world headed out to try and get a glimpse of the space rock last night, with some professional photographers managing to obtain impressive footage of the comet moving extremely quickly through the sky.

Others, however, were left disappointed as the moon in some areas was too bright and made it difficult to spot the comet, while for some significant cloud cover meant neither stars nor the comet could be spotted. 

Last month Josh Dury was able to capture the comet above Stonehenge using camera equipment. 

He told MailOnline: ‘When taking this photograph, the comet was on the threshold of naked eye visibility.

‘While the comet itself this is tricky to see. People should be able to see it if the skies are clear located between the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor as a faint smudge.

The green comet captured from the Pico de Las Nieves on the island of Gran Canaria in Spain

Amateur astronomers watch the green comet from Omsk, Russia on February 1 2023 

Andrew McCarthy, from Arizona, tracked the comet for hours last month, snapping pictures every chance he could. He performed a lot of processing to clean up the images to get this stunning result, but the ion tail seen in the unprocessed photo ‘is accurate’, he said

On January 24 photographer Josh Dury was able to capture the green comet over Stonehenge for the first time in its existence  

‘More particularly, located near to the polestar called Polaris.’ 

Comets are nicknamed ‘dirty snowballs’ by astronomers, made up of ice, dust and rocks that typically come from the ring of icy material called the Oort cloud at our solar system’s edge.

They are then surrounded by a thing and gassy atmosphere filled with more ice and dust called a coma. 

As they approach the sun, comets melt, releasing a stream of gas and dust blown from their surface by solar radiation and plasma and forming a cloudy and outward-facing tail.

Fewer than a dozen comets are discovered each year by observatories around the world.

A view of the green comet over Kryoneri, Greece on February 1 2023

What makes the Comet C/2022 E3 special is that unlike some others, it’s not a frequent visitor to Earth.

Some comets make quite regular trips around our planet, such as Halley’s comet that appears roughly around every 76 years. 

It last made an appearance in 1986 and is expected to next appear in 2061.

The green comet was last seen thousands of years ago at a time when Neanderthals still inhabited Eurasia, our species was expanding its reach beyond Africa, big Ice Age mammals including mammoths and saber-toothed cats roamed the landscape and northern Africa was a wet, fertile and rainy place.

According to Professor Thomas Prince from the California Institute of Technology, the comet will be able to provide clues about the primordial solar system because it was formed during the solar system’s early stages. 

It has attracted a large amount of attention because of its green colour.

Its greenish, emerald hue reflects the comet’s chemical composition – it is the result of a clash between sunlight and carbon-based molecules, particularly diatomic carbon and cyanogen, in the comet’s coma.

The glow is caused by UV radiation from the sun lighting up the gases streaming off the comet’s surface.

Some on social media were left disappointed after waiting for the comet to appear, with many claiming that low clouds were to blame or the moon being too bright 

Professor Don Pollacco, from the department of physics at the University of Warwick, said: ‘We understand this as due to light emitted from carbon molecules ejected from the nucleus due to the increase in heat etc. during its closest approach to the sun, which happened around 12 January.

‘Some comets approach the sun much closer and are completely evaporated by the intense radiation.’

Its green colour not a unique feature – other comets in the past have also had a similar feature.

According to NASA around one in 10 comets that have been studied have a similar greenish tint when studying it from Earth.

In 2009, the Lulin comet was also green because of its nucleus contain cyanogen, a poisonous gas found in many comets, and diatomic carbon.

Where has comet C/2022 E3 come from and why is it green?

Last night Comet C/2022 E3 whizzed past Earth for the first time since the age of the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago.

When was comet C/2022 E3 discovered?

The green comet was discovered in March by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego.

Since then, the new long-period comet has brightened substantially, sweeping across the northern constellation Corona Borealis in predawn skies.

In December, scientists managed to get the first detailed photograph of the new comet, revealing its brighter greenish coma and yellowy dust tail.

Why is comet C/2022 E3 green?

Its greenish, emerald hue reflects the comet’s chemical composition – it is the result of a clash between sunlight and carbon-based molecules, particularly diatomic carbon and cyanogen, in the comet’s coma.

The glow is caused by UV radiation from the sun lighting up the gases streaming off the comet’s surface.

Professor Don Pollacco, from the department of physics at the University of Warwick, said: ‘We understand this as due to light emitted from carbon molecules ejected from the nucleus due to the increase in heat etc during its closest approach to the sun, which happened around 12 January.

‘Some comets approach the sun much closer and are completely evaporated by the intense radiation.’

What caused the comet to appear?

Astronomers think the space rock, which will be visible for many stargazers on Earth tonight, suffered a ‘disconnection’ event caused by turbulent space weather.

This effectively means a weakening in the comet’s tail which makes it look like it is breaking off.

Experts at SpaceWeather.com say the disruption was likely caused by a stronger-than-usual solar wind released during a recent coronal mass ejection (CME) from our sun.

‘A piece of Comet ZTF’s tail has been pinched off and is being carried away by the solar wind,’ SpaceWeather.com wrote.

‘CMEs hitting comets can cause magnetic reconnection in comet tails, sometimes ripping them off entirely.’

CMEs are large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona, before travelling across the solar system and interfering with the atmospheres of planets and other bodies like comets.

NASA plans to observe the comet with its James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which could provide clues about the solar system’s formation.

Planetary scientist Stefanie Milam of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland said: ‘We’re going to be looking for the fingerprints of given molecules that we can’t access from the ground.

‘Because JWST’s so sensitive, we’re expecting new discoveries.’

Its green colour not a unique feature – other comets in the past have also had a similar feature.

According to NASA around one in 10 comets that have been studied have a similar greenish tint when studying it from Earth.

In 2009, the Lulin comet was also green because of its nucleus contain cyanogen, a poisonous gas found in many comets, and diatomic carbon.

The green comet was discovered in March by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego