Newly found comet now visible to naked eye in 'once-in-a-lifetime' event

[Judi Lynn]

Story by Dave Higgens •
4h

Sky-watchers are getting a “rare and exciting opportunity” to see a comet with the naked eye in a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, according to astronomers.

Comet Nishimura was discovered only in August but will be closest to Earth in a week’s time – just before dawn on Tuesday September 12.

The object, which is travelling through space at 240,000 miles per hour, is already visible to the naked eye, according to Professor Brad Gibson, director of the E A Milne Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Hull.

Prof Gibson said Nishimura can currently be seen in the hour after sunset and the hour before dawn by looking east-north-east, towards the crescent moon and Venus.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/newly-found-comet-now-visible-to-naked-eye-in-once-in-a-lifetime-event/ar-AA1gflgx

[Permanut]

1. Thanks for the alert!

[littlemissmartypants]

2. I love comets and meteor showers.

I was so excited to see Kohotek.* I even have a special chair setup for my meteor shower watching. When it's cold I just bundle up in a quilt and sip hot chocolate while I'm watching.

Thanks for sharing this, Judi Lynn.





* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek

[Old Crank]

3. What would be nice

If these people, reporters, told us what time zone they were assuming you are in.

[royable]

4. It doesn't matter.

If people around the world look to the west at sunset, whatever their time zone, they'd see the sun setting, sitting out there in the direction of space that the sun is in relative to Earth on that day.

Similarly, just before dawn, on a given day, people around the world could look to the northeast and they're looking out in the direction of space where there just might happen to be a comet.

Caveat: This may not be true at extremely high latitudes, beyond the Arctic or Antarctic Circles, at particular times of the year and what patch of sky you'd like to see, since the Earth itself might be in the way of that direction.

[xocetaceans]

8. Here is some information on viewing it . . . .

[xocetaceans]

10. More specifically, if you have access to Stellarium, you can track the comet after adding its . . .

. . . orbital elements.

It seems that, if conditions are clear, the comet might be visible at about 5:55 a.m. Central Daylight Time. It seems to rise at roughly the same time as Venus rises, but the comet will be about 20 degrees north of Venus's location. So, when Venus is above due East, the comet should be about 16 degrees above that eastern horizon and 20 degrees to the north (or to the left) of Venus. The Sun is about 26 degrees below the comet, so you won't have a lot of time before things become too bright to see the comet: maybe until about 6:10 a.m., before it is impossible to pick out with a superzoom camera. I don't know if it will be visible to the naked eye tomorrow morning (06 Sept 2023) or not. [You can track all of this yourself with Stellarium, if you get used to its interface.]

Anyway, if you can download Stellarium and install it, it is a great program and it's free:

https://stellarium.org/

Good luck, if you intend to go out to see the comet over the next week.

[Glorfindel]

5. Cool...I enjoyed seeing the Hale-Bopp comet in (I think) 1996

I'd love to see another one, but that would be a "twice in a lifetime" experience. Thanks for the info., Judi Lynn.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Does the "current" location make sense?

"toward the crescent moon and Venus"? Currently, the moon is waning gibbous, not crescent. And, it's visible near Jupiter, not Venus. Maybe the good professor is describing the location when best visible, on Sep 12.

This bozo will look in the direction of the moon, Jupiter, and Venus on his pre-dawn morning walks, hoping to see something resembling a comet. With urban background lighting around here, I have my doubts that I'll see it.

Anyway, "currently", look near Venus, forget about the moon. Supposedly, the comet is in the constellation Cancer.

[femmedem]

7. Thank you!

I've never seen a comet. Mr. Femmedem and I will take a drive outside of town where there's no light pollution!

[Warpy]

9. Depends on how long your lifetime has been

Hale-Bopp was clearly visible, even here in the city where there is massive light pollution.