What Minnesotans Need To Know About Seeing Comet Nishimura

Next week Minnesotans, and most people in the Northern Hemisphere, might get the chance to see a comet streaking across the night sky, for the first time in 400 years. The best opportunity to see the comet is Tuesday around sunrise and the comet should be visible to the naked eye.

USA Today gave some details about the new comet that were really interesting.

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Nishimura which is "green in color and about a half-mile in size" will reach its closest point to Earth next week before racing around the sun and back into space. Weather permitting, you should soon be able to see the comet before dawn, but don't wait. Nishimura is moving at 240,000 mph, and it won't be back for more than 400 years.

How do you see the comet?

If you are going to try and check out Comet Nishimura, you are going to have to get up a little earlier as it will be visible to the naked eye around sunrise, and it should be just below the constellation Leo in the sky.

If you miss out on the comet Tuesday morning, you are out of luck as astronomy.com says by Wednesday the comet will be too low on the horizon to be found. But there is some good news. There seem to already be a LOT of images of Comet Nishimura online, shimmering in an eerie green hue.

What other fun outdoor night activities are coming up?

If you are into space, you might want to mark your calendar for the next wave of meteor showers that is set to take place across the night sky. The next meteor shower that will possibly be visible will be the Orionids and those are expected to start September 26th and last through November 22nd, with the peak of the shower happening around October 22nd.