Say Hello To Comet Nishimura, A Possible Naked Eye Sight In Weeks

Forbes Innovation Science Say Hello To Comet Nishimura, A Possible Naked Eye Sight In Weeks Jamie Carter Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I inspire people to go stargazing, watch the Moon, enjoy the night sky Following Aug 16, 2023, 07:15pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Photographer Alan Dyer observes Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) with binoculars on the dark moonless night . .

. [+] of July 14/15, 2020 from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images It’s been a few months since the so-called “ green comet ” and a few years since Comet NEOWISE , but it now seems that the newly found Comet Nishimura could be visible to the naked eye at night during Sept.

2023. Officially called C/2023 P1 (Nishimura), the comet was discovered very close to the sun on Aug. 11, 2023 by Hideo Nishimura, an amateur astronomer in Japan, according to Starwalk , and confirmed by the Minor Planet Center on Aug.

15. When And Where To See Comet Nishimuri Although it’s currently not bright enough to see with anything other that a large telescope, Comet Nishimura is predicted to become bright enough around Sept. 11, 2023 while it’s in the constellation Leo.

It will be close to the crescent moon and Venus, according to EarthSky . At around magnitude 5 it will be right on the cusp of naked eye visibility—largely because comets are diffuse objects, unlike stars—so observers would be wise to also have binoculars or a telescope on hand. Visible To The Naked Eye However, it will reach its closest to the sun a week later in the constellation Virgo, when it could get as bright as magnitude 3.

2, according to Starwalk. That would make it easily visible to the naked eye. MORE FOR YOU Microsoft Stock Is Set To Skyrocket Into The AI Future Tidal Waves On A ‘Heartbeat Star’ Is The Craziest Story You’ll Read Today NASA Adds Wings And Lasers To Imminent Mission To Psyche Asteroid The bad news is that Leo will only be visible in the night sky a few hours before dawn above the eastern horizon.

Comets also have a habit of defying predictions, either brightening, dimming or even falling apart unexpectedly. MORE FROM FORBES ‘Star Wars Comet’ Could Outburst During 2024 Total Solar Eclipse By Jamie Carter Next Bright Comet In 2024 Then next bright comet after Comet Nishimuri is expected to be comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)—better known as A3—a long-period comet with an orbit of just over 80,000 years. Now in the inner solar system, it comes from the Oort Cloud—a sphere around our solar system that’s home to millions of comets—and will make its closest approach to the Sun on Oct.

10, 2024. It should be visible from the northern hemisphere in the southwest just after sunset, possibly as bright as Venus . MORE FROM FORBES A Naked Eye ‘Great Comet’ May Be On Its Way By Jamie Carter Meet Comet Pons-Brooks Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks —a giant comet the size of Halley’s comet —will slide closest to the Sun on Apr.

21, 2024 and making its closest approach to Earth on Jun. 2, 2024. A comet that orbits the Sun every 71 years, 12P/Pons–Brooks was first spotted in 1812.

It was recently revealed to be on course to be visible during the next total solar eclipse in North America on Apr. 8, 2024. This is also a big year for the “mother of all comets.

” Last seen in the inner solar system in 1986, on Dec. 9, 2023, Halley’s comet will get as far as it ever does from the Sun—about 35 Earth-Sun distances past the orbit of Neptune—and begin to drift back towards the inner solar system. It’s expected to be bright in Earth’s sky next in the summer of 2061.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website or some of my other work here .

Jamie Carter Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.