mardi 12 septembre 2023

Home Technology & Science New comet makes historically close approach to Earth today, but spotting it will take some luck

New comet makes historically close approach to Earth today, but spotting it will take some luck

Technology & Science

$Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1), at left, captured just after rising in the pre-dawn sky on September 10, 2023 with the sky beginning to brighten with morning twilight colours. The comet was only about 2º above the horizon at this time. The comet was about 5° north of the bright star Algieba, at right, aka Gamma Leonis. The comet sports a faint ion tail, with the comet seemingly pointed toward the sunrise point; it was moving down and closer to the Sun at this time. The comet was barely visible in binoculars as a fuzzy star and not at all with the unaided eye. This is a stack of 6 x 30-second exposures, all tracked, with the SharpStar 61mm refractor at f/4.4 and filter modified Canon R at ISO 3200, blended with a single but still tracked image for the ground to minimize their blurring. Differential refraction from the field being so close to the horizon creates some star trailing at top. All on the AstroPhysics 600E mount. Taken from home on a very clear morning with the waning crescent Moon in the sky. An application of Nik Color EFX Detail Extractor helped bring out the tail.$

Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1) was discovered in August and is now whizzing by Earth, but finding it in the sky will be a challenge.

from CBC | Technology News https://ift.tt/SUaRJVy