According to predictions, the unexpectedly appeared and discovered comet C/2023 P1 (Nisimura) can be seen with the naked eye in the northern sky in September, they wrote on the news portal csillaszat.hu.
The new comet was discovered on August 12, 2023 by the 72-year-old Japanese comet and nova discoverer, amateur astronomer Hideo Nisimura, at his observatory located in a tea plantation called Gomjo near the city of Kakegawa.
Since the apparent brightness of 11 magnitudes at the time of the discovery is too much for today’s smaller telescopes, the discovery was noted and confirmed by several amateur astronomers after the Japan National Observatory’s announcement.
Soon, numerous observations made it possible to determine the orbit of the celestial body, which confirmed that it was a previously unknown comet.
And the comet, which belongs to the solar system, so it did not come close to the sun from the far regions of the solar system, it will be close to the sun on September 18th. This means that it will be much closer to the Sun than Mercury, making it a brighter comet.
The faint comet plume can already be seen in recent long-exposure photographs taken from sufficiently dark and light-pollution-free locations. The gas coma is green in color, which comes from a diatomic carbon molecule.
The apparent brightness of the comet can reach three degrees during its approach to the sun in September, so it can be seen with the naked eye if it does not appear at a very small angle distance from the sun. The comet will then be more visible in the bright twilight sky. According to astronomers, it would be best to try to spot it a week before it approaches the sun, around September 10, when it will be fainter but easier to spot.
The comet will be closest to Earth on September 13, when it will be 127.5 million kilometers from our planet.
