The newly discovered comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura is hurtling toward Earth and will likely be visible to the naked eye. It was last observed by contemporaries of Petr Vok from Rožmberk, its estimated orbital period is 434 years.
The greenish comet C/2023 P1 was first captured in his images at the beginning of August by the Japanese amateur astronomer and photographer Hideo Nishimura, after whom it is also named. This is not his first catch – he has already discovered two comets in the past, this is his third.
The path of the comet Nishimura through the Solar System in August-September 2023. pic.twitter.com/tcwnkhN8n2
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To hunt for comets, Nishimura uses a Canon 6D with a 200mm f/3 telephoto lens on a parallax mount. When shooting, he bets on relatively short 15-second exposures. He spotted the comet in the images from August 12, 2023, but also traced it in the images from August 11.
Nishimura’s success is all the more valuable because the vast majority of new objects in the starry sky today are captured by large professional telescopes long before they reach the sight of amateur astronomers. At the same time, Nishimura took advantage of the time gaps just before sunrise, when large telescopes are usually not operating.
When will the comet be visible in the sky?
Observing comet C/2023 P1 will require not only preparation, but also a certain amount of luck. The comet is hurtling toward the Sun and will reach perihelion on September 17, 2023, when it will be closer to our star than Mercury. Five days earlier, however, it will approach the shortest distance to Earth, at a safe distance of 125.4 million kilometers. That’s about 84% of Earth’s distance from the Sun.
The opportunity to see comet C/2023 P1 with the naked eye will be low in the east in the constellation Gemini from September 12. But it will be much safer to use any available telescope. In addition to a clear sky without light pollution and, of course, without clouds, it will be necessary to either stay awake longer to observe the comet, or, on the contrary, get up and watch it ideally around 4 o’clock in the morning. The current brightness of the comet you can watch here.
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Comet C/2023 P1 has remained unobserved until now, but it may be related to the Sigma Hydrid meteor shower, which is active from November 22 to January 18 (peaking around November 30). It could be ice and dust ejected during the last visit to the inner solar system in 1589.
Source: IFL Science, Astro.cz
2023-09-11 16:00:07
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