Comet Nishimura's Photobomb: Close Encounter with NASA Spacecraft (Photos)

Comet Nishimura, also known as C/2023 P1, surprised scientists by appearing in images taken by NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft as it observed the sun's corona. The comet seems to have survived its close encounter with the sun on September 17, passing within 20.5 million miles of it. While the preliminary images show the comet looking intact, scientists are cautious about drawing conclusions until higher-resolution data is available. The comet will continue to move away from the sun and the spacecraft, growing smaller and fainter in the images.