Comet Sighting Opportunity This Weekend – Don’t Miss It!
Stargazers have a rare opportunity this weekend to witness the celestial visitor, comet Nishimura, which was only discovered a month ago. It may be visible to the naked eye, providing a unique experience that occurs once every 437 years.
The ball of rock and ice, whose exact size is unknown, is named after Japanese astronomer Hideo Nishimura, who first spotted it on August 11.
It is rare for comets to reach peak visibility so soon after being discovered, said Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory.
“Most are discovered months, even years, before they pass closest to the sun,” he told AFP.
He said the comet swings past the Sun only every 437 years, a long orbital period during which it spends much of its time in the icy outer solar system.
As comets approach the Sun from the vastness of space, the heat causes the ice core to turn into dust and gas, forming a long tail.
Sunlight reflects off this tail, allowing us to see comets from Earth.
Nishimura, with the scientific name C/2023 P1, will pass closest to the Sun on September 17.
It is 33 million kilometers (20 million miles) from the Sun, which is less than a quarter of the distance from Earth to the Sun, Biver noted.
The comet will then safely pass the Earth at a distance of 125 million kilometers.
For stargazers, the comet will be easiest to spot this Saturday and Sunday, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.
“The best way is to look at the sky before sunrise, northeast to the left of Venus, in a clear sky, free of pollution,” Biver advised.
People with small binoculars can easily enjoy the spectacle. But if the conditions allow, the comet can also be visible with the naked eye.
The comet’s tail must be greenish because it contains “more gas than dust,” Biver said.
