If you have old binoculars gathering dust in the attic, now is the time to pick them up: Starting this weekend, comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura will be visible to the naked eye from Earth. The show is expected to last several days.
Coming from the boundaries of the solar system, the comet will make its closest approach to our planet next Tuesday before reaching perihelion on September 17. It is unlikely to disintegrate, but the possibility cannot be ruled out. The comet will then be only 33 million kilometers from our star, which is a quarter of the Earth-Sun distance.
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To observe it, you have to get up early: the comet is very low on the horizon and is only visible shortly before sunrise (after 5 a.m.). You will find it below and to the left of Venus, the famous “Shepherd’s Star”, towards the rising sun. You can also use a smartphone application (like Stellarium, Sky View or Star Walk) that will show you the position in real time. If possible, try to choose a clear observation point that is far away from any source of light pollution.
However, with the naked eye, you can’t expect to see anything other than a tiny dot. It is ideal to use binoculars or a telescope: the comet should then appear in the form of a greenish halo. On the other hand, to see its tail, it is better to bring a telescope.
Discovered a month ago by an amateur astronomer
The observation of C/2023 P1 Nishimura is all the more extraordinary because it was only discovered on August 12 by a Japanese amateur astronomer. A real stroke of luck, especially since the comet was hidden in the sun’s halo and Hideo Nishimura only used a simple camera. Since then, astronomers have estimated its orbital period to be 434 years. In other words, it hasn’t been visible to the naked eye since Galileo (and was completely unnoticed then) and won’t be again until the middle of the 25th century – assuming it survives another pass near the Sun.
Don’t put the binoculars too far away: comet C/2023 A3, discovered by the Atlas telescope last February, could well offer a spectacle in October 2024 worthy of the flyby of the famous Hale-Bopp comet in 1997.