{"id":49421,"date":"2023-09-07T07:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T07:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2216974f-cfd7-4ccc-b865-f615297a79c0"},"modified":"2023-09-07T09:32:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T09:32:34","slug":"how-to-see-comet-p1-nishimura-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/how-to-see-comet-p1-nishimura-this-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"How to see Comet P1 Nishimura this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

All you need to know about Comet Nishimura and what we can expect this month. <\/p>

By Stuart Atkinson\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 07 September 2023 at 07:44 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Have you seen Comet P1 Nishimura yet? The weather forecast is looking good for this weekend in the UK, meaning it could be a good chance.<\/p>

Comet Nishimura, or C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) to use its official designation, is currently visible in the morning sky in the constellation Leo.<\/p>

It’s visible through a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, but is really shining in the many images that have been circulating online over the past week or so.<\/p>

Discover our pick of the greatest comets of recent times<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and find out what comets and asteroids are in the sky tonight<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Jos\u00e9 J. Chamb\u00f3 sent us this image of Comet C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) captured from Vall\u00e9s, Valencia, Spain on 22 August at 04:11 UTC. Equipment: Camera Atik 383L , TS-Photon 8″ N f\/3.6, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount. Exposure: 29 min. (L=26×60 bin1 RGB=1×60 bin2), PixInsight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
But will Comet Nishimura become visible to the naked eye at any point next week?<\/p>
That’s the question on every comet-chaser’s lips at the moment.<\/p>
Time will tell. In this blog we’ll be following the progress of Comet Nishimura over the coming days and weeks.<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) by Osama Fathi, 26 August 2023, 04:15 to 05:45, local time (UTC 3). Equipment: RedCat 51, Celestron 3X barlow, Nikon Z6, ASI 294MM, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Remember how, just over two years ago, we were all gazing up wistfully at beautiful Comet NEOWISE<\/a> shining in the summer sky?<\/p>
With its long tail it was a lovely sight as it drifted beneath the Big Dipper, and was clearly visible to the naked eye.<\/p>
Frustratingly, there have been no obvious naked eye comets<\/a> since then – but that might be about to change\u2026<\/p>
**Will Comet Nishimura be visible to the naked eye?<\/strong><\/h2>** $\"Image$
Image of Comet P1 Nishimura captured by Stuart Atkinson from Kendall, Cumbria UK. Equipment: Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera, 300mm lens, iOptron Sky Tracker motorised mount. Image is a crop from a processed stack of 20 frames.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Comet Nishimura, if it follows predictions, *might<\/em> become visible to the naked eye after the weekend of 9\/10 September when it moves into the evening sky.<\/p>*
It\u2019s important to bear in mind that when it comes to comets ‘visible to the naked eye’ does **not<\/strong> mean ‘will be a stunning sight to the naked eye\u201d’<\/p>**
**It just means that it might reach a** **magnitude<\/a> high enough to be seen without help from binoculars or a telescope.<\/p>**
**Comet Nishimura could possibly get bright enough to be seen only as a smudge in the sky, or possibly something a lot better.<\/p>**
**We\u2019ll have to wait and see what Comet P1 does.<\/p>**
**There\u2019s always a chance the comet will ‘do an ISON’ and break apart as it rounds the Sun, but it\u2019s showing no signs of doing that so far.<\/p>**
**So comet observers are cautiously optimistic that more than just a cloud of debris will sweep up into the evening sky.<\/p>**
Comet P1 Nishimura<\/strong>‘**s discovery<\/strong><\/h2>** $\"Image$
Image of Comet Nishimura captured by Stuart Atkinson from Kendall, Cumbria, UK, 4 September 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is a long period comet that was discovered by Hideo Nishimura on 12 August 2023.<\/p>
He was using a 200mm f\/3 telephoto lens mounted on a Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera.<\/p>
Calculations have since shown that Comet Nishimura has an orbital period of around 437 years.<\/p>
The comet was in Gemini and shining at around 10th magnitude when it was discovered.<\/p>
But it has been brightening steadily and is now in Cancer.<\/p>
It’s around 6^{th<\/sup> magnitude, shining to the upper left of Venus in the pre-dawn sky.<\/p>}
P1 would probably be a naked eye object now if it wasn\u2019t having to fight against both the bright morning twilight and the light of the Moon.<\/p>
I\u2019ve taken photos of it for the past two mornings, from the 800 year old ruins of Kendal Castle in Cumbria, UK.<\/p>
My images taken using a DSLR camera, tracking the sky on a motorised mount, show it has grown a short but very pretty forked tail.<\/p>
This tail would definitely look more impressive against a darker sky.<\/p>
If you want to try it for yourself, read our guide on how to photograph a comet<\/a>.<\/p>
**What can we expect from the comet?<\/strong><\/h2>** $\"Image$
Image of Comet Nishimura captured by Stuart Atkinson from Kendall, Cumbria, UK, 4 September 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Comet P1 Nishimura will reach its closest point to Earth on 12 September 2023 and its closest point to the Sun on 17 September 2023.<\/p>
At this point it will have moved up into the evening sky. And what might we see *then<\/em>?<\/p>*
*If you remember,* *Comet NEOWISE was a lovely sight<\/a> because it was high in a dark sky.<\/p>*
Comet P1 will *not<\/em> be. It will remain firmly embedded in the evening twilight, always low in the sky, until it fades away.<\/p>*
*Calculations suggest that it might reach a maximum magnitude of 2.<\/p>*
*Which of course would make it obvious in a darker sky.<\/p>*
*But low in the twilight it will appear fainter than that, perhaps merely a smudgy star in binoculars. <\/p>*
*$\"Alex$* Alex Green captured this image of NEOWISE just outside Ely in Cambridgeshire, UK, at 01:45, 11 July 2021 using a Canon EOS 5D MkIV DSLR camera, 85mm lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
However, if the tail continues to grow it might make the comet more obvious.<\/p>
And it may yet surprise us with an impressive tail, pointing up from the horizon, beneath the curved handle of the Big Dipper and Arcturus.<\/p>
The bottom line is we just don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>
Cross your fingers that it brightens as hoped, but disregard any social media predictions of P1 becoming a \u201cdazzling sight\u201d or \u201clighting up the sky\u201d.<\/p>
Comet-chaser Jos\u00e9 J. Chamb\u00f3 captured the image below of Comet C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) on 28 August 2023.<\/p>
Jos\u00e9 says: “Comet P1 Nishimura imaged during the morning twilight in a wide-field image spanning three degrees between constellations Gemini and Cancer.<\/p>
“It is seen in conjunction with comet 29P\/Schwassmann-Wachmann, appearing as a small cloud beneath the long ion tail of Nishimura, revealing structural details in the form of various clusters being swept by the solar wind.”<\/p>
$\"Jos\u00e9$
Comet C\/2023 P1 (Nishimura) and Comet 29P\/Schwassmann-Wachmann, captured from From Utah Desert Observatory, Utah, USA on 28 August 2023 by Jos\u00e9 J. Chamb\u00f3. Equipment: SBIG STL-11000M camera, Takahashi FSQ-106ED f\/5.0 refractor, Paramount GT-1100S mount. Exposure: 9 min. (L=2×180 bin1 RGB=1×60 bin2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
How to see Comet Nishimura for yourself<\/strong><\/h2>
In the meantime, if you want to see Comet Nishimura now you\u2019ll need to be getting up early, around 4am.<\/p>
Train your binoculars, cameras and telescopes to the north-east, where P1 is waiting for you.<\/p>
It’s not far from Venus, heading for its close encounter with the Sun.<\/p>
Good luck!<\/p>
We’ll update this blog over the coming weeks as things develop.<\/p>
***Have you observed or photographed Comet P1 Nishimura? Let us know by emailing*** ***contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n***
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