SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Mike Olason
Location of Photo:
Tucson, Arizona
Date/Time of photo:
26 July 2021, 1119 UT
Equipment:
11" SCT and STF-8300M CCD Camera
Description:
A bright new comet was discovered by H. Nishimura of Japan on July 21 with a digital camera. The comet was very close to the Sun as seen from Earth and was located on the other side of the Sun as seen from Earth. In these images Comet C/2021 O1 (Nishimura) was magnitude 9.2, had a 76 arc second wide coma and was 159 million miles from Earth. The images were taken when the comet was only 7 degrees above the eastern horizon just before twilight in a 93% Moon illuminated sky through a 5 minute opening in cloud cover so the comet is actually much more impressive than these images show it. The comet will reach perihelion in it's orbit on 12 August 2021 when it will be 74 million miles from the Sun and may brighten to magnitude 9. The comet will make it's close approach to Earth on 5 August 2021 at 158 million miles. The comet is moving into the morning twilight so if one wants to view it or image it they should do so in the next week before it becomes lost in the morning twilight and then moves behind the eastern horizon the second week of August.
