August 22nd 2023.
Comet C/2023 P1, discovered just two weeks ago by amateur astrophotographer Hideo Nishimura in Japan, could soon be visible to the naked eye. After crossing Earth’s orbital path, the comet is on its way towards the Sun and will soon be between Venus and Mercury.
Whether or not we will be able to spot the comet from Earth is uncertain, as its nucleus may break up as it approaches the Sun, just like Comet ISON did in 2013. However, if it stays intact, stargazers may be able to get a glimpse of it around September 11, when it is expected to be at its brightest and longest.
Already glowing a bright green, the comet is showing off a faint coma, or tail, which will only get brighter and longer as it nears the Sun. Comets are composed of dust, rock, and ices, and as they heat up, the ices evaporate and turn to gases, which are then blown away by solar winds, creating the comet’s tail.
The exact origin of C/2023 P1 is unknown, but many comets in our solar system are believed to have come from the Oort cloud, an area located between 2,000 and 100,000 astronomical units away from the Sun. Although it would take Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object in space, over 300 years to reach the Oort cloud, the comet could be on a hyperbolic orbit, meaning it originated from interstellar space and will never be seen again after it flies away from the Sun.
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