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https://www.iflscience.com/earth-is-about-to-see-an-object-last-seen-during-the-time-of-neanderthals-66885

Earth Is About To See An Object Last Seen During The Time Of Neanderthals
The last time this was seen, humanity had only just begun to expand.
James Felton
JAMES FELTON
Senior Staff Writer

clock
Dec 29, 2022 8:13 AM

A comet streaking through the sky.
A young comet captured by Hubble in 2019. Image credit: NASA/Hubble

If you look up into the sky over the next few months, you can see an
object last seen when Neanderthals walked the Earth.

On March 2, 2022, astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility
discovered a comet using a wide-field survey camera. The comet is
estimated to complete an orbit of the Sun once every 50,000 years,
meaning the last time we saw the comet was in the Upper Paleolithic
period, when humans began to expand throughout Asia and Europe.

The comet, dubbed a tongue-rolling "C/2022 E3 (ZTF)", is currently too
dim to be seen without a telescope. However, it may be possible to see
with the naked eye sometime at the end of January and beginning of
February 2023.

The comet is currently on its approach to perihelion (its closest
approach to the Sun), which will occur on January 12. It will be closest
to Earth – known as at perigee – on February 1. Around this point, it
may be visible to the naked eye, though Sky at Night point out it would
likely look like a smudge of chalk dust on a chalk board rather than the
dazzling display put on by comet Neowise.

The comet, first believed to be an asteroid before the coma was
observed, was discovered using a telescope that, at 1.2 meters (4 feet),
is around the size of Hervé Villechaize, who played evil henchman Nick
Nack in James Bond: The Man With The Golden Gun. It will safely pass the
Earth at a distance of about 44 million kilometers (27 million miles),
or 36,667 million Hervé Villechaizes away.

space
SPACE AND PHYSICS
tag
COMET

JAMES FELTON
Senior Staff Writer

James is a published author with four pop-history and science books to
his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out
of the ordinary.

Read IFLScience Editorial Policy

a425couple wrote on 4/01/2023 4:12 am:
> from
> https://www.iflscience.com/earth-is-about-to-see-an-object-last-seen-during-the-time-of-neanderthals-66885
>
>
> Earth Is About To See An Object Last Seen During The Time Of Neanderthals
> The last time this was seen, humanity had only just begun to expand.
> James Felton
> JAMES FELTON
> Senior Staff Writer
>
> clock
> Dec 29, 2022 8:13 AM
>
> A comet streaking through the sky.
> A young comet captured by Hubble in 2019. Image credit: NASA/Hubble
>
> If you look up into the sky over the next few months, you can see an
> object last seen when Neanderthals walked the Earth.
>
> On March 2, 2022, astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility
> discovered a comet using a wide-field survey camera. The comet is
> estimated to complete an orbit of the Sun once every 50,000 years,
> meaning the last time we saw the comet was in the Upper Paleolithic
> period, when humans began to expand throughout Asia and Europe.

50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the scene!!

And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT stuff
cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION author?? .... Not
that I mind, just seems strange ... inappropriate, maybe!!
--
Daniel

In article <tp2u2p$2cnjp$1@dont-email.me>,
Daniel65 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

> 50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the scene!!
>
> And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT stuff
> cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION author?? .... Not
> that I mind, just seems strange ... inappropriate, maybe!!

The earth has been around the galaxy maybe ten times since it was
created. So of that would be through dust clouds so thick that
the only visible star was our sun.

--
:-<> Siri Seal of Disavowal #000-001. Disavowed. Denied. Deleted. @
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' /|\
Discordia: not just a religion but also a parody. This post / \
I am an Andrea Chen sockpuppet. insults Islam. Mohammed

Siri Cruise wrote on 5/1/23 1:40 pm:
> In article <tp2u2p$2cnjp$1@dont-email.me>,
> Daniel65 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
>
>> 50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the scene!!
>>
>> And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT stuff
>> cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION author?? .... Not
>> that I mind, just seems strange ... inappropriate, maybe!!
>
> The earth has been around the galaxy maybe ten times since it was
> created. So of that would be through dust clouds so thick that
> the only visible star was our sun.
>
I seem to recall the Galaxy rotates about every 200 Million years and
Earth is about 4 Billion years old so that would mean it's been around
about 20 times! ;-)
--
Daniel

On 5/01/2023 7:00 pm, Daniel65 wrote:
> Siri Cruise wrote on 5/1/23 1:40 pm:
>> In article <tp2u2p$2cnjp$1@dont-email.me>,
>>   Daniel65 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
>>
>>> 50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the scene!!
>>>
>>> And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT stuff
>>> cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION author?? .... Not
>>> that I mind, just seems strange ... inappropriate, maybe!!
>>
>> The earth has been around the galaxy maybe ten times since it was
>> created. So of that would be through dust clouds so thick that
>> the only visible star was our sun.
>>
> I seem to recall the Galaxy rotates about every 200 Million years and
> Earth is about 4 Billion years old so that would mean it's been around
> about 20 times! ;-)

250 million years, so earth is still a teenager, about 17 galactic yrs old.

"The first human ancestors appeared between five million and seven
million years ago, probably when some apelike creatures in Africa began
to walk habitually on two legs. They were flaking crude stone tools by
2.5 million years ago. Then some of them spread from Africa into Asia
and Europe after two million years ago."

So 1% of the galactic orbit is about 2.5 million years, which equates to
about 3 days of a normal year. So basically humans didn't exist a week
ago.

1 galactic year equals about 4 million human life times. It's hard to
get your head around these cosmic scales : )

In article <tp603p$2p479$1@dont-email.me>,
Daniel65 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

> Siri Cruise wrote on 5/1/23 1:40 pm:
> > In article <tp2u2p$2cnjp$1@dont-email.me>,
> > Daniel65 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
> >
> >> 50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the scene!!
> >>
> >> And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT stuff
> >> cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION author?? .... Not
> >> that I mind, just seems strange ... inappropriate, maybe!!
> >
> > The earth has been around the galaxy maybe ten times since it was
> > created. So of that would be through dust clouds so thick that
> > the only visible star was our sun.
> >
> I seem to recall the Galaxy rotates about every 200 Million years and
> Earth is about 4 Billion years old so that would mean it's been around
> about 20 times! ;-)

Are we old enough to been around the block?

--
:-<> Siri Seal of Disavowal #000-001. Disavowed. Denied. Deleted. @
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' /|\
Discordia: not just a religion but also a parody. This post / \
I am an Andrea Chen sockpuppet. insults Islam. Mohammed

Siri Cruise wrote on 6/1/23 2:44 pm:
> In article <tp603p$2p479$1@dont-email.me>, Daniel65
> <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
>> Siri Cruise wrote on 5/1/23 1:40 pm:
>>> In article <tp2u2p$2cnjp$1@dont-email.me>, Daniel65
>>> <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> 50,000 years ..... so AFTER Australian Aborigines were on the
>>>> scene!!
>>>>
>>>> And, on a lighter note, why is so much of this Science FACT
>>>> stuff cross-posted to a group based around a Science FICTION
>>>> author?? .... Not that I mind, just seems strange ...
>>>> inappropriate, maybe!!
>>>
>>> The earth has been around the galaxy maybe ten times since it
>>> was created. So of that would be through dust clouds so thick
>>> that the only visible star was our sun.
>>>
>> I seem to recall the Galaxy rotates about every 200 Million years
>> and Earth is about 4 Billion years old so that would mean it's been
>> around about 20 times! ;-)
>
> Are we old enough to been around the block?
>
As Whisper has detailed .... Nope!!
--
Daniel