This SeptemberIn addition to the typical astronomical events of the month, we have an exceptional guest who will light up the sky with greenery for several days. It’s about Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimuradiscovered on August 12 by a Japanese astronomer Hideo Nishimura. Hence its name.
The first and most important thing is to ensure that even though it approaches our planet quite close, approximately at a distance 125.4 million kilometers (yes, by astronomical standards, this is not much), there is absolutely no risk. However, what we can do is enjoy the view as its greenish light will give us very beautiful show.
Comet Nishimura becomes visible September 7. It will have its closest point to the Sun, known as perihelion. 17th. Because of this, it will look much brighter, but at the same time it will be the worst time to observe it, since it is precisely because of its proximity to the Sun its own brightness will be masked by the star king, and we won’t be able to detect it well. Let’s see what we have to do to keep it.
Best days to see Comet Nishimura
According to NASA forecasts, it will be visible from all over the planet, but especially in North hemisphere. While true, it’s pretty unpredictable, so it’s You can change during their journey to the outskirts of the Earth.
Now, based on current forecasts, the best days to see it would preferably be two days. The first will be 8 Septembersince it will happen when it reaches magnitude 4.9, which makes it visible to the naked eye. The apparent and absolute magnitudes of a comet, like other bright stars, are used to determine its brightness. On the one hand, the apparent brightness gives us its real brightness as we see it, while the absolute brightness tells us what brightness it would have if it were at a very certain distance from the Earth, a few 32 light years. Thus, it is possible to compare the brightness of many stars, even though they are at very different distances.
As for Comet Nishimura, at the time of its discovery, its apparent magnitude was between 2.8 and 3.2. This made it impossible to see with the naked eye. However, its absolute value 12.4, much larger than that of the Sun, which has an absolute magnitude of 4.8. If we see the Sun so bright, it’s because it’s very close, but it’s actually much dimmer than a comet.
Now, as Nishimura gradually approaches our planet and the Sun, its brightness increases, so 8 September will be visible to the naked eye for the first time. To see it from Earth, it is enough to look away in the wee hours Constellation Leo. If you do not know how to find it, we recommend using applications such as Star Walk 2 or Stellarium.
Later, 12-th of September, this will be another good time to see the comet, as although its apparent magnitude will decrease due to its proximity to the Sun, it will be closer to the Earth. Then we can still see him next to Leo. Be that as it may, if we try it on another day, the applications mentioned above will also tell us how to find it in the sky.
Tricks to see better
Comet Nishimura has the peculiarity of emitting a lot of gas, but little dust. This will make it a bit harder to see, as the dust reflects the light so we can see it better.
For this reason, it might be interesting to resort to tricks like the ones we already recommended in the recent Super Blue Moon. Preparing our eyes for the dark and being able to look up to the sky will help us enjoy the show by putting all the meat on the grill to make it wonderful. So find a dark place, prepare your eyes for darkness in advance, and if you need to illuminate yourself, use red light.
All this will help you see Comet Nishimura as, of course, you could not imagine.
Source: Hiper Textual
