'Once-in-a-lifetime' chance to see newly found comet now visible to naked eye

05 September 2023 , 08:24

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Professor Gibson advises that the best time to spot Nishimura is in the hour after sunset and the hour before dawn

Sky-watchers are getting a "rare and exciting opportunity" to see a comet with the naked eye in a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, astronomers have said.

Comet Nishimura, which was discovered just last month, will be at its closest proximity to Earth just before dawn on Tuesday, September 12. The comet, hurtling through space at 240,000 miles per hour, is already visible to the naked eye, says Professor Brad Gibson, director of the E A Milne Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Hull.

Professor Gibson advises that the best time to spot Nishimura is in the hour after sunset and the hour before dawn, by looking east-north-east, towards the crescent moon and Venus.

He explains: "The comet takes 500 years to orbit the solar system, Earth takes one year, and the outer planets can take many decades. Halley's Comet, which caused much interest during its last nearby visit to Earth in 1986, takes 76 years to orbit the solar system. So, to say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Nishimura isn't an exaggeration."

Comet Nishimura, which was discovered just last month, will be at its closest proximity to Earth just before dawn on Tuesday (SomeAstroStuff / Wikimedia Commons)

Professor Gibson added: "It can already be seen but it will be 78 million miles from Earth on September 12 and that should be the best chance to see it with the naked eye. On average, people have the chance to see such a naked eye comet once a decade this is a rare and exciting opportunity."

'Weird' comet heading towards the sun could be from another solar system

Comet C/2023 PI has been named in honor of Japanese astrophotographer Hideo Nishimura, who recorded it while capturing long-exposure photographs of the sky with his digital camera on August 11. According to Prof Gibson, the comet is set for a close encounter with the sun on September 17, coming within a mere 27 million miles.

However, he warns there's a real possibility the comet may not survive this close fly-by. While scientists are still working to estimate Nishimura's size, Prof Gibson speculates it could range from a few hundred metres to potentially a mile or two in diameter.

He suggests that this comet could be the source of the annual Sigma-Hydrids meteor shower, which lights up our skies every December. Prof Gibson describes comets as "chunks of ice and rock" left over from the solar system's formation nearly five billion years ago. As they approach the sun, its heat liberates an icy gas from the comet, creating their distinctive tail.

He said tiny particles of dust and rock are released from comets by the sun's heat as they pass nearby. Each year, Earth passes through this debris, resulting in meteor showers. Prof Gibson assures there is no danger of Nishimura colliding with Earth as astronomers have meticulously charted its orbit and speed of travel.

There is a debate between scientists over whether it was an asteroid or a comet which caused the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. He said: “What happened to the dinosaurs is a once-in-a-100-million-year event. People have been watching comets since ancient times with their interpretation then spanning everything from being portents of doom to simply being heralds of good news."

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Katie Weston