2023-09-06 15:47:02
(Paris) Comet Nishimura, discovered only a month ago, is currently heading towards the Sun and will shine at its maximum during the weekend, offering a spectacle visible with simple binoculars, or even with the naked eye.
Posted at 11:47 a.m.
This small rocky and icy body, whose exact size is not yet known, takes its name from a Japanese amateur astronomer, Hideo Nishimura, who observed it for the first time on August 11.
“It is rare to discover a comet so shortly before its peak of clairvoyance. Most are discovered months or even years before they pass as close as possible to the Sun”, points out Nicolas Biver, CNRS researcher at the Paris-PSL Observatory.
“C / 2023 P1”, from its scientific name, has a long-period orbit with a last passage near the Sun dating back 437 years, he explains to AFP.
No trace of the last passage of this frozen visitor has been found in the astronomical archives, specifies the astrophysicist.
When comets (celestial bodies from the cold regions of the solar system) approach our star, the ice contained in their nucleus sublimates and lets out a long trail of dust reflecting the light of the Sun.
It is this shiny hair that can be observed from Earth. Comet Nishimura will pass closest to the Sun on September 17: it will then be 33 million kilometers from the star, or “less than a quarter of the distance from Earth to the Sun”, and 125 million km from Earth. , according to Nicolas Biver.
We can already observe it, but it will be this weekend that it will be the brightest, especially in the northern hemisphere. “The best is to look at the sky before sunrise, heading northeast to the left of Venus (commonly called the Evening Star), in a clear sky and without light pollution”, advises the researcher.
Small binoculars will be enough to enjoy the show, which some might even see with the naked eye if the weather conditions are right.
The tail of comet Nishimura is greenish in color, due to the fact that it contains “more gas than dust”.
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