NEW #COMET #NISHIMURA: Astronomers are monitoring a new comet that could become a naked eye-object next month. It is Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura), discovered just a few days ago by Japanese #amateur #astronomer Hideo Nishimura. On Aug. 15th just before dawn in June Lake, California, Dan Bartlett photographed it rising in the #constellation #Gemini:
Right now the comet is shining like a 10th magnitude star, a relatively easy target for backyard telescopes. It could become more than 100 times brighter. Forecasters believe the Comet Nishimura will brighten to 3rd magnitude in mid-September when it passes by the #sun inside the orbit of Mercury. This would make it visible to the naked eye from rural areas.
This might be a " #hyperbolic comet." In other words, it appears to have a hyperbolic orbit (e>1) with too much energy to remain inside the solar system. If so, the comet will only visit us once, with the sun acting as a gravitational slingshot, sending the comet hurtling out of the solar system after its flyby. Confirmation awaits additional, more precise measurements of its orbit.
