The “West Village Comet,” discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Toshio Nishimura in early August, is gradually approaching Earth. It is expected to be closest to Earth next Tuesday (12th), at a distance of less than 125 million kilometers, providing an opportunity for people to observe it through binoculars. If missed this time, it may be another 400-plus years before it can be witnessed again.
Paul Chodas, an astronomer with NASA, explains that due to its distance, the West Village Comet’s brightness is barely visible from Earth. It will also move close to the horizon, making binoculars the best way to observe it. Dark skies away from city lights offer the optimal viewing conditions. Chodas adds that the West Village Comet completes an orbit roughly every 430 to 440 years, which means its last close approach to the Sun was around 1590 AD, before the invention of telescopes. It remains unclear whether it was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye back then.
The West Village Comet will get even closer to the Sun on the 17th of this month. Alan Hale, co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, believes that considering the West Village Comet has survived at least one close encounter with the Sun, it’s expected to withstand the high temperatures. Hale mentions that if the West Village Comet survives its solar flyby, it will move away from Earth to the far side of the Sun in early October, then appear in the morning skies of the Southern Hemisphere in November. It may remain visible for several months, although it could become quite dim as it moves farther away from the Sun and Earth, gradually fading.