Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura has discovered a new comet, which will be visible to the naked eye in September 2023. Visible comets are a rare and beautiful experience and have fascinated humans for millennia.
This peculiar object had been covered by the Sun and became visible on August 11th. Only a few days ago, Nishimura discovered it during his star-gazing activities. The comet stems from the Oort cloud, a cloud of icy debris, believed to surround our entire solar system.
The discovery was confirmed on August 15th, when the Minor Planet Center reported the official news and named the comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura).
The comet is currently crossing the Gemini constellation, and it has reached a magnitude of 10.8, the official standard measurements for stars from planet Earth. It is gradually becoming all the more brighter. Its tail is also observed to be growing, measuring eight arcminutes and is trailing behind the comet.
On August 26th, it will cross into the constellation of Cancer with a magnitude of 9.2. On September 5th, C/2023 P1 will cross into Leo with a magnitude of 6.9, while on the 7th of the same month, it will drop to a magnitude 6.3, crossing the star Ras Elased Australis in Leo at an angle of 0°16′.
When to best spot the new comet named Nishimura
On September 13th, the comet will be closest to planet Earth at a distance of 0.29 times the average distance between Earth and Sun, or around 43,383,383 kilometers from Earth, with a magnitude of 4.3. It will be in Leo and will then be in Virgo between the 16th and 18th of September, continuing to decrease in brightness along its course.
On the 18th, it will be closest to our Sun, with its expected magnitude of 3.2. This means that it has the potential to be visible in the sky. Due to its angle, however, which could cause it to travel at very high speeds, it may indeed not be visible to the human eye at all. When the comet crosses into Virgo, it will be most visible at sundown. The Northern hemisphere is a vantage point for observation.
Comet C/2023 P1 is already observable with an amateur telescope just before the crack of dawn. The comet will reach its maximum brightness and proximity to Earth on September 11th and will be close and bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. It will be seen a few hours prior to dawn in the constellation of Leo. We can expect it to be even brighter in the days after that, as it reaches the apsis of Leo, but it will also be closer to the Sun in the sky, making observation more difficult.
The names of comets have specific meanings in astronomy. The letter C indicates that the comet is non-periodical and will pass our solar system only once, or it will take over two hundred thousand years to orbit around the Sun.
The label 2023 P1 indicates that the comet was discovered in August 2023. The letter P is indicative of the month in the comet denomination system, while the numeral one means that it is the first object discovered in this period of time. Nishimura is also part of the name, as a homage to the astronomer who discovered it.
By mid October, the Nishimura comet will continue its course away from the Sun and will only be observable with a telescope. It will continue its galactic journey so as to never be seen in our lifetime again.
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