We are in the best moments to observe the Cometa Nishimura, who visits us these days. We tell you how to do it.
Most of the comets that come close to Earth are too faint to be seen with the naked eye and go unnoticed. Only from time to time there is someone who becomes visible by providing us with a beautiful show. These days there is a comet, called Nishimura (C/2023 P1) that has aroused much expectation. Its name comes from its discoverer, the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura who, on August 12, used a reflex camera equipped with a telephoto lens to scan the sky from Kakegawa.
The comet had escaped the great explorations carried out by telescopes dedicated to monitoring the sky night after night, a job similar to fishing with a net. That is why it is very meritorious that the discovery was made by an amateur astronomer who, following the simile, is as if he were fishing with a rod.
This comet describes an elliptical orbit around the Sun, its period is about 435 years. Its closest approach to Earth (about 126 million kilometers) will take place on September 12, while perihelion (point of closest approach to the Sun, about 34 million kilometers) will occur five days later. The comet will then pass so close to the Sun that it does not seem impossible that it will disintegrate. For orientation, let’s remember that the Earth-Sun distance is about 150 million kilometers.
The comet’s orbit is inclined with respect to Earth’s orbit, in such a way that, during its visit, the comet always appears close to the line of sight to the Sun. Therefore, it is only visible at dawn, very close to the horizon, just before solar rising. From our latitudes, in these days of early September, it can be observed at an elevation of about 15 degrees above the eastern horizon, as we say, just before the Sun rises. With each passing day, the comet is closer and closer to the Sun. Sol, so that by mid-September it will be engulfed in solar glare and unobservable.
Worth a look