Green Comet Nishimura currently still visible low in the morning sky

Comet C/2023 P1 “Nishimura” can currently still be observed low above the morning northeast sky before it will no longer be visible in a few days. The Association of Star Friends explained this and also visualized where you should look for the comet in the constellation Leo. Because the celestial body is currently rapidly approaching the sun, it will reach an apparent brightness of up to 4 mag. But there isn’t much time left; from September 13th it will probably no longer be visible in the bright dawn and will then sink below the horizon. But comets are always good for surprises and “perhaps Nishimura increases its brightness more than expected.”

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Probably not an interstellar visitor

C/2023 P1 was discovered just a month ago and is named after its discoverer, the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura. Measurements of the celestial body’s orbit had since suggested that its orbit is hyperbolic. The eccentricity of e > 1 determined at the time suggested that the comet was simply visiting the Sun; Nishimura might be the third confirmed interstellar comet. Meanwhile, further measurements have e = 0.996 (NASA) or e = 1 (Minor Planet Center) result. Comets with parabolic (e = 1) and even minimally hyperbolic orbits there is alwaysmany are likely to come from the Oort cloud, which has not yet been directly observed.

In the coming days the comet should be visible with binoculars, and cameras with focal lengths of 200 mm or more should be able to capture it. writes the Association of Star Friends. With powerful optics, the exposure times could be kept short in order to image structures in the comet’s tail. Astrophotographers can exchange ideas in the club’s forum, there are already impressive shots and even small film sequences of the celestial body. There are already a number of photos of the green comet on the photo platform Flickr.

(mho)