See Comet Nishimura now or never: Interstellar traveler won't return for 400 years

Nishimura, a newly discovered comet – green in color and about a half-mile in size – will reach its closest point to Earth on next week before racing around the sun and back out into space.

Weather permitting, you should soon be able to see the comet before dawn, but don't wait. Nishimura is moving at 240,000 mph, and it won't be back for more than 400 years.

C/2023 P1 Nishimura will come within 78 million miles of us Tuesday. Its orbit has been mapped and it isn't considered a threat. Skywatchers have been photographing the comet on its approach, coming up with some stunning images.

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What are best times to see Comet Nishimura?

The best time to see it is before sunrise, low in the sky near the constellation Leo.

Though Nishimura can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, it's rising later each morning, astronomy.com says. It should rise at about 4:20 a.m. local time today. By Sunday, it should appear around 5 a.m.

Nishimura will appear as the sky gets lighter, but the comet is also growing brighter as it approaches Earth. It's best seen with binoculars or a small telescope.

The comet will likely vanish from Northern Hemisphere view after Wednesday.

The comet will come closest to the sun, inside the orbit of Mercury, on about Sept. 17. It could break up that close to the sun, though it's expected to stay intact, circling the sun and then leaving the solar system.

Nishimura should be visible in the Southern Hemisphere at the end of September.

What's special about Comet Nishimura?

Nishimura has a green head, a color caused by "diatomic carbon, a highly reactive molecule that is created from the interaction between sunlight and organic matter," according to planetary.org.

The comet's discovery has surprised professional and amateur astronomers alike. Most new comets are found by automated telescope surveys, but Nishimura was discovered Aug. 12 by Hideo Nishimura, an amateur astronomer in Japan, using a standard digital camera and a 200mm telephoto lens. The comet was named after him. The Minor Planet Center confirmed it on Aug. 15.

Nishimura has discovered two other comets: Comet Nishimura (C/2021 O1) and Comet Nakamura-Nishimura-Machholz (C/1994 N1).

SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Associated Press; NASA; planetary.org; space.com; earth.com; astronomy.com