Humanity has been observing Comet Nishimura for the past few weeks
Scientists believe that it originated on the outskirts of the Solar System
The recently discovered green comet Nishimura survived a close encounter with the Sun and made its way back to the outer parts of the solar system. Will he ever come back?
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Nishimura appeared in the sky
Comet Nishimura, also known as C/2023 P1, was spotted on August 12 by Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura. The icy object was characterized by a bright green glow caused by the high content of dicarbon in the coma – the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds its solid core.
The comet’s trajectory initially suggested it might be an interstellar object like Oumuamua or Comet 2I/Borisov. However, further observations showed that it actually has an extremely elliptical orbit, bringing it into the inner solar system only once every 430 years before looping around the Sun and returning to the Oort Cloud – a reservoir of comets and other icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Nishimura made its closest approach to Earth on September 12, passing at a distance of 125 million kilometers, which is about 500 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
And on Sunday, September 17, it reached perihelion, or closest point to the Sun, coming within just 33 million kilometers of our home star.
The comet survived the flyby around the Sun
Passes around the Sun can be deadly for comets. According to the server Spaceweather.com however, Nishimura seems to have come out unscathed. The comet is now only visible above the horizon shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset.
It also shines much more faintly than when it approached the Earth, when it was easily visible even with the naked eye. As a result, today you need a powerful telescope or specialized astrophotography equipment to get a decent look at a comet.
Some experts believe that Nishimura could be part of this year’s Sigma-Hydrids meteor shower, which peaks in early December, writes astronomy news website EarthSky.
If that’s the case, then Nishimura’s flyby could make this year’s swarm much more active and visually interesting than usual.
Preview photo source: Buddy_Nath / Pixabay, source: Live Science, Newsweek, Mirror, Live Science
2023-09-19 17:08:09
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