Discovered only a month ago, comet Nishimura will be visible to the naked eye this weekend, offering stargazers the chance to observe a celestial visitor once every 437 years.

The ball of rock and ice, whose exact size is unknown, is named after Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura, who first saw it on 12 August.

Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory, said it was rare for comets to reach the peak of their visibility immediately after their discovery.

"Most are discovered months or even years before their closest passage to the Sun," Biver told AFP.

When comets approach the Sun from the vastness of space, the heat causes the icy nucleus to turn into dust and gas, forming a long tail.

The Sun's light reflects off this tail, allowing us to see comets from Earth.

Nishimura, whose scientific name is C/2023 P1, will make its closest pass to the Sun on 17 September.

It will be 33 million kilometres (20 million miles) from the Sun, less than a quarter of the distance between the Earth and the Sun, Biver said.

The comet will then pass harmlessly past the Earth at a distance of 125 million kilometres.

For stargazers, observing the comet will be easiest this Saturday and Sunday, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.

"The best thing to do is to look up in the sky before sunrise, to the left of Venus in a northeasterly direction, in a clear sky free of pollution," Biver advised.

People with small binoculars will be able to enjoy the view easily. However, if conditions permit, the comet can also be seen with the naked eye.

Biver said the comet's tail is greenish because it contains "more gas than dust".

 

Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/