A newly discovered comet that's barreling toward Earth may have originated from outside our solar system — and will likely be catapulted back into interstellar space after performing an intense gravitational slingshot around the sun. Before it departs our cosmic neighborhood forever, the icy object will likely get 100 times brighter, meaning it will shine like a star in the night sky.
Amateur Japanese astronomer Hideo Nishimura discovered the comet, designated C/2023 P1, falling toward the heart of the solar system on Aug. 12. Follow-up observations suggest the object, nicknamed Comet Nishimura, has a hyperbolic orbit, according to Spaceweather.com. A hyperbolic orbit is when an object slingshots around a more massive object, like the sun, giving the smaller object enough energy to escape the gravitational pull of the larger one.
