Astronomy aficionados are buzzing about a bright new comet. The ball of dust and ice is formally named C/2023 P1, but is also called Comet Nishimura, for Hideo Nishimura, the Japanese photographer who first spotted it. How was the comet discovered? Mr. Nishimura captured the comet on Aug. 12 while imaging the sky before sunrise with a digital camera — the third comet he has discovered. That’s exactly how scientists discovered Comet NEOWISE in 2021, which was named for the NASA space telescope that detected it, the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.

---

Persons: Comet Nishimura, Hideo Nishimura, Nishimura, Vishnu Reddy, ” Dr, Reddy, Comet NEOWISE Organizations: Central Bureau, University of Arizona, NASA, Survey