View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Abhijit Patil in San Jose, California, captured this photo of Comet 2023 P1 (Nishimura) on the morning of September 8 and wrote: “This shot was taken in the early hours … The gradient between the night and sunrise was a nice backdrop to shoot this long-tailed celestial body.” Thank you, Abhijit! See more photos of Comet Nishimura from the EarthSky community below.
A new comet – Nishimura – has been up in the east before sunrise, not far from the brightest planet, Venus. And our EarthSky community has been ready with cameras, capturing it as it makes its way to the sun that binds it in its 435-year orbit. Enjoy these incredible photos. And if you have a photo of Nishimura to share, submit it to us here.
The comet has been getting brighter, but – as of September 10, 2023 – it’s about to be drowned in the glare of morning dawn. Read about Comet Nishimura.
Photos of Comet Nishimura from September
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Petr Horalek in Zahradne, Slovakia, made this composite image of Comet Nishimura (left) and Venus, the brightest planet, from photos captured on September 9, 2023. He wrote: ” … The comet appeared against the slightly cloudy sky. Its tail is so bright that, even in the backyard telescope, I could enjoy it in almost full-field of view … Unfortunately, the comet is harder to observe each morning, so I am truly happy I made it at least once to see this beauty!” Thank you, Petr!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Alan Howell of Greensboro, North Carolina, captured this image on September 4, 2023. He wrote: “Third time is the charm! I was finally able to capture our newest comet, C/2023 P1 Nishimura, around 5:30 a.m. today just before the sunrise washed out the tail. What a spectacular sight to see this rare green beauty show up on my camera screen!” Thank you, Alan.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman captured this image on September 6, 2023. He wrote: “Comet 2023 P1 Nishimura cleared the foothills in Tucson just before 5 am as the sky was growing brighter by the second. This image was a capture of as much as possible before the predawn blotted out the details and colors. The comet is a little brighter than magnitude 5.0 and an easy spot now. In a small telescope like this 100 mm Vixen astrograph the comet is an amazing object with that tail.” Thank you, Eliot! And yes, the tail is amazing.
Photos of Comet Nishimura from August
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman of Tucson, Arizona, captured this image on August 29, 2023. Eliot wrote: “Comet 2023 P1 (Nishimura) is magnitude 7.5 and getting brighter. This image was captured in the brightening predawn. It looks like this one will put on a good show.” Thank you, Eliot!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | See that little green glowing ball near the very top of this image? That’s Comet Nishimura! At the lower left is the Beehive cluster. Barry Burgess in Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this image on August 28, 2023. Barry wrote: “I waited as long as I could before twilight would interfere with the image so the comet was high above the horizon as possible.” Thank you, Barry!Martin Curran of Cheyenne, Wyoming, stacked 60 images (30 seconds each) taken on August 27, 2023, of Comet Nishimura shown against background star trails. Thank you, Martin.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Osama Fathi in the Western Desert, Egypt, created this composite image of Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) among trees on August 26, 2023. Thank you, Osama!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mustafa Aydin in Ankara, Turkey, obtained this telescopic view of Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) on August 24, 2023. Mustafa wrote: “Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) was recently discovered by amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura, and its current brightness is nearly magnitude 9. It is expected to brighten up in the 1st weeks of September, and it may even become visible to the unaided eye.” Thank you, Mustafa!
How fast is C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) moving?
Stacked images taken by Martin Curran of Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the morning of August 27, 2023. The video contains 60 images recorded for 30 seconds each of Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura). You can see how much the comet moves relative to the background stars over 30 minutes. Thank you, Martin! Used with permission.
Bottom line: Check out these great photos of Comet Nishimura from the EarthSky community. The comet is going into the sun’s glare now, but you might still be able to catch it! If you do catch an image, please submit it to the EarthSky community page.
EarthSky producer and editor Marcy Curran has enjoyed stargazing since she was a girl, going on family camping trips under the dark skies of Wyoming. You might know her best nowadays for her popular EarthSky Minute - which provides a heads up on that night's sky - at our YouTube channel. Marcy bought her first telescope in time to see Halley’s Comet in 1985. She co-founded her local astronomy club. And she taught astronomy at her local community college for over 20 years. Marcy and her husband live in Wyoming.
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