A rare and bright green comet will zoom pass Earth this week, offering sky watchers a chance to catch a glimpse of one of the best-viewed comets of the year.

The comet – C/2022 E3 (ZTF) – was first sighted in March last year when it was already inside the orbit of Jupiter, NASA said. It made its closest approach to the sun on Jan. 12 before making its closest pass to Earth on Thursday, Feb. 2. On that day, the comet, which appears to be bright green, will be about 27 million miles away from the Earth.

The comet has a period of about 50,000 years, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That means the last time it was close to the sun and Earth was during the Upper Paleolithic period on Earth.

C/2022 E3 has a bright greenish coma, a short broad dust trail and a long faint ion tail. Its brightness means, while never assured, it will likely be easy to spot with binoculars, NASA said. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly toward the northwest. While it will make its closest approach to Earth on Thursday, the comet is viewable in the night sky all week.

Watch live stream

If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your home to view the comet, you can tune into the Virtual Telescope Project’s live stream.

It will begin at 10 p.m. on the night of its closest passing of the sun, on Thursday. You watch at its website at https://www.virtualtelescope.eu or on its YouTube page.