In September, a comet known as Nishimura will be passing through our solar system at a staggering speed of 240,000 miles per hour. This “potentially interstellar” comet was recently discovered and will make its closest approach to Earth on Tuesday, September 12. During this time, it will be within 78 million miles of our planet and will be visible to the naked eye, appearing as a star-like blob with a tail.
A few days later, on September 17, Nishimura will reach its closest approach to the sun, known as “perihelion,” at a distance of about 20 million miles. It will then slingshot around our star and head back into deep space, never to be seen by us Earthlings again. This comet has garnered attention for its potential interstellar origins, meaning it may have originated from another solar system.
Comets, asteroids, and meteors are all different types of space rocks. Asteroids are large chunks of rock leftover from collisions or the early solar system, located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt. Comets, on the other hand, are rocks covered in ice, methane, and other compounds, with orbits that take them further out of the solar system. Meteors are flashes of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up, while meteoroids are the debris itself. If any of this debris reaches Earth, it is called a meteorite.
Comets, like Nishimura, are composed of ice, dust, and rocky material, distinguishing them from asteroids that consist of metals and rocky material. When a comet gets close to the sun, its ice and dust vaporize, creating a distinctive tail and a cloudy halo known as a coma. Nishimura, discovered by Japan’s Hideo Nishimura on August 12, was photographed recently in June Lake, California, showing a green coma and a thin tail.
NASA believes that Nishimura has the potential to be seen with the naked eye during the days surrounding its close approach to Earth. As it gets closer to the sun, it will intensify and may become visible without the aid of telescopes in early September. However, there is some uncertainty in predicting the visibility of comets, given their unpredictable nature.
Furthermore, Nishimura’s trajectory will take it so close to the sun that its nucleus, the solid central part of the comet, may break up. This nucleus is made up of rock, dust, and frozen gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Observing the comet with a small telescope throughout August is recommended, as it may not survive its passage near the sun. Additionally, the angular proximity of the comet to the sun means it will only be visible near sunset or sunrise when it reflects just the right amount of sunlight.
While it remains to be seen whether Nishimura is truly interstellar, astronomers are excited about the potential insight it could provide into other solar systems. Only three interstellar objects have been observed so far, with the first being a meteor that hit Earth in 2014 and was confirmed as an interstellar object eight years later. The second, named ‘Oumuamua, was discovered in 2017, and the third, Comet Borisov, was discovered in 2019.
There is ongoing research and study on these interstellar objects to understand their origins and characteristics. ‘Oumuamua, initially believed to be a comet, was later classified as an asteroid due to the lack of a coma. Comet Borisov, on the other hand, is considered one of the most pristine comets ever observed, meaning it has not been significantly altered or degraded by heat and radiation from stars like our sun.
In conclusion, the appearance of Comet Nishimura in September provides an exciting opportunity for stargazers to witness a potentially interstellar comet passing through our solar system. With its unique characteristics and close approach to Earth, it offers a glimpse into the mysteries of our universe.
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