Visual Observing

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Posted by: Johnny C Barton on 9/2/2023 at 10:37 AM
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Greetings everyone,



I just wanted to inform everyone about a newly discovered comet that's been in our morning sky the past couple of weeks, and will soon be in our early evening sky around the middle of September.

Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura was discovered by amateur astronomer, Hideo Nishimura in Japan on August 12th.  It rapidly caught the attention of professional and amateur astronomers when the predictions came out of it becoming very bright (2nd magnitude) as it makes its' closest approach to Earth on Sept. 12th.  Plus, it's going to have a close perihelion inside the orbit of Mercury on Sept. 17th.  The only caveat with this comet is that it never gets very far from the Sun, which makes it a challenge trying to see.

The good news is that it's brightening as predicted so far (and I think a little better), and it just may out perform as it gets closer.  There are many who believe that it may not survive its' very close approach to the Sun during perihelion, and could break up and disintegrate.  Or, it could surprise everyone and become much brighter and go into an outburst. One thing that I've learned from observing comets for almost 40 years, is that they are very unpredictable.  Many believe this one will be making its' first visit to our Sun, and that leaves the door open for anything to happen.

As I said, it's been a real challenge trying to image this comet during the past few days, mainly because it doesn't get very high in the east until well past the beginning of astronomical twilight.  Plus, I had to wait for it to clear some trees, and  even shot thru the trees on my first attempt on Aug. 19th.  After doing a little tree trimming, I was able to buy a little more time for a couple of shots on the 28th and 30th, which I've included with this message.  You can see that the Aug. 30th shot shows the comet a bit brighter and the tail more pronounced.  Both were taken using the same exposures, and are the same FOV.  I have since given up imaging due to the bright Moon and twilight, as the comet continues to dive towards the Sun. 

I was hesitant about alerting everyone about this, mainly because it's going to be a real challenge to see as it emerges in our western skies around the middle of this month.  Closest approach to Earth is Sept. 12th and perihelion occurs on Sept. 17th. But, I believe there's going to be a good chance that it could become a super-bright comet, and I wanted to give out an alert to those who would like to have a chance to see it, or try imaging it. 

I've included a finder chart that I created using Cartes du Ciel starting Sept. 14th thru the 19th.  You're going to need to find the lowest western horizon without any bright lights around.  You most likely won't be able to see any nearby stars as the chart shows, because the twilight will be too strong. 

If it brightens to 2nd mag. or brighter, you should be able to see it by scanning the area with binoculars.

Good luck to everyone, and if you get any images, please share on this forum.



Clear Skies, Johnny Barton

Attachment(s):
File: Aug_28-30_P1_Nishimura.jpg (297.0 KB) -- Address: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/3463256_0_Aug_28-30_P1_Nishimura.jpg
File: Comet_Nishimura_Finder_Chart.jpg (87.2 KB) -- Address: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/3463256_1_Comet_Nishimura_Finder_Chart.jpg



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Greetings everyone,

I just wanted to inform everyone about a newly discovered comet that's been in our morning sky the past couple of weeks, and will soon be in our early evening sky around the middle of September.

Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura was discovered by amateur astronomer, Hideo Nishimura in Japan on August 12th. It rapidly caught the attention of professional and amateur astronomers when the predictions came out of it becoming very bright (2nd magnitude) as it makes its' closest approach to Earth on Sept. 12th. Plus, it's going to have a close perihelion inside the orbit of Mercury on Sept. 17th. The only caveat with this comet is that it never gets very far from the Sun, which makes it a challenge trying to see.

The good news is that it's brightening as predicted so far (and I think a little better), and it just may out perform as it gets closer. There are many who believe that it may not survive its' very close approach to the Sun during perihelion, and could break up and disintegrate. Or, it could surprise everyone and become much brighter and go into an outburst. One thing that I've learned from observing comets for almost 40 years, is that they are very unpredictable. Many believe this one will be making its' first visit to our Sun, and that leaves the door open for anything to happen.

As I said, it's been a real challenge trying to image this comet during the past few days, mainly because it doesn't get very high in the east until well past the beginning of astronomical twilight. Plus, I had to wait for it to clear some trees, and even shot thru the trees on my first attempt on Aug. 19th. After doing a little tree trimming, I was able to buy a little more time for a couple of shots on the 28th and 30th, which I've included with this message. You can see that the Aug. 30th shot shows the comet a bit brighter and the tail more pronounced. Both were taken using the same exposures, and are the same FOV. I have since given up imaging due to the bright Moon and twilight, as the comet continues to dive towards the Sun.

I was hesitant about alerting everyone about this, mainly because it's going to be a real challenge to see as it emerges in our western skies around the middle of this month. Closest approach to Earth is Sept. 12th and perihelion occurs on Sept. 17th. But, I believe there's going to be a good chance that it could become a super-bright comet, and I wanted to give out an alert to those who would like to have a chance to see it, or try imaging it.

I've included a finder chart that I created using Cartes du Ciel starting Sept. 14th thru the 19th. You're going to need to find the lowest western horizon without any bright lights around. You most likely won't be able to see any nearby stars as the chart shows, because the twilight will be too strong.

If it brightens to 2nd mag. or brighter, you should be able to see it by scanning the area with binoculars.

Good luck to everyone, and if you get any images, please share on this forum.

Clear Skies, Johnny Barton