Technologies

Bright Comet Nishimura Is Now Becoming Visible in the Predawn Sky

It’s likely your best chance to see such a spectacular space snowball this year if you’re willing to wake up early. Grab some binoculars, too.

The most promising comet of 2023 will make a close pass by our planet next week and it’s nearly bright enough already to be seen with the naked eye.

Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) was first spotted last month by Hideo Nishimura, an amateur astronomer in Japan, using only a digital camera setup and a lot of skill. It’s set to make a close pass by Earth on Sept. 12, and then whip around the sun on Sept. 17 before being flung back out to deep space.

The comet is a bit tricky to see right now because it’s best seen in a dark sky, but its position is such that it should be observed 60 to 90 minutes before dawn, when the sky is not fully dark. A number of sky watchers and astrophotographers are reporting having luck imaging it using a digital camera on a tripod taking exposures that last at least a few seconds.

Nishimura is expected to grow brighter as it comes closer the next few days, if it survives that long.

So far the comet has been meeting some serious resistance in the form of blasts of charged particles and plasma issuing forth from a tumultuous sun. Observers like astrophotographer Michael Jaeger (see above) watched Saturday as a solar storm engulfed the comet and appeared to blow a portion of its tail away for a moment.

Here’s a more dramatic example that was captured by NASA in 2007 of Comet Encke having its tail briefly stolen:

«Researchers call this a disconnection event; it’s caused by a CME (or fast solar wind stream) hitting the comet,» former NASA astronomer Tony Phillips wrote at Spaceweather.com. «Nishimura’s tail has since grown back — but it might not last for long. More CMEs are heading its way.»

CME stands for coronal mass ejection, which is an eruption from the outer layers of the sun that often accompanies a solar flare. Think of it as a very strong gust of energetic wind coursing through space and causing electromagnetic chaos. This is the same force that causes auroras to light up the skies when it collides with Earth’s magnetic field. It can also influence other things in space, like asteroids and comets.

The sun is currently building toward the peak of its roughly 11-year solar cycle, which means more frequent flares and CMEs. At least two more of the ejections Phillips mentioned issued forth from the sun’s corona on Tuesday, exploding in the direction of Comet Nishimura.

Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1) on Sept 5, 2023. For this single shot I used my A7s and a 135mm lens.
Nishimura is a new comet that was discovered on August 11, 2023. It’s expected to brighten to a magnitude of 1.8. Its closest approach to us will be on Sep 12 and its perihelion on… pic.twitter.com/BXhDo0IOpq

— Dr. Sebastian Voltmer (@SeVoSpace) September 6, 2023

How to catch the comet

All this rough space weather can be a bit distressing for skywatchers hoping to see the comet with the naked eye. Although the comet is still approaching Earth, now could be the ideal time to start looking for it. Nishimura was expected to be bright enough to see as soon as Sept. 8. In the Northern Hemisphere it will appear near the horizon, making it a bit tougher to locate.

«It’s really best seen with binoculars or a telescope,» Alison Klesman, who holds a doctoratein astronomy, wrote for Astronomy.com. «But through those optics, it will dazzle.»

You can search for the comet in the constellation Leo an hour or two before sunrise. You can use apps like Stellarium, Star Walk or TheSkyLive to help locate it.

See bright Comet Nishimura at dawn.
Finder chart below. pic.twitter.com/CMRiPk4dPM

— Con Stoitsis (@vivstoitsis) September 4, 2023

It’s very difficult to know what the future holds for a comet. They can travel for centuries from the edge of the solar system to make a single orbit around the sun. At the same time, they are fragile things with a tendency to disintegrate as they pass through the inner solar system. They’ve even been known to crash into Jupiter or the sun along the way. The dinosaurs may also have had a close encounter with one many millions of years ago.

So with all the turbulence the sun is sending out lately, it’s good to get up early to try to see Nishimura for yourself while it’s still holding itself together. Good luck!

Technologies

Apple’s iPhone 16 Still Leads the Smartphone Pack in New 2025 Sales Data

Apple’s flagship line dominated first quarter sales, with Samsung close on its heels.

You might have a sense that Apple’s iPhone is one of the most successful smartphones on the market even without looking into the specifics, but now it’s official: the iPhone 16 is the bestselling smartphone of the year so far.

This new data comes from market analysis firm, Counterpoint Research, and its Global Handset Model Sales Tracker. According to the findings, for the first quarter of 2025 — January through March — the base model iPhone 16 was the top-selling smartphone globally. Apple maintained a strong grip on the rest of the firm’s top 10 list, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro and previous-generation base model iPhone 15 taking up the second, third and fourth slots, respectively. They were trailed by the iPhone 16 Plus, which took tenth place.

Notably, Counterpoint highlighted that this quarter saw the current base model iPhone return to the top spot. In recent years, including the first quarter of 2024, the high-end Pro Max variant took first place. The firm attributed this in part to issues in China, where the government has subsidized cheaper phone models and where Huawei’s premium offerings have offered stiff competition.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elsewhere on the list, Samsung was right on Apple’s heels last quarter, with the Galaxy A16 5G, Galaxy A06, Galaxy A25 Ultra and Galaxy A55 5G taking the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth spots, respectively. Rounding out the list was Chinese manufacturer Xaomi’s Redmi 14C 4G, an extremely budget-friendly offering that you can snag at most US retailers for less than $150.

Technologies

Apple Expands Official Self Service Repair Options to Include iPads

DIY types, take note, the updated Self Service Repair Store provides iPad owners a whole new world of options.

Having iPad trouble? With Apple’s May 29 expansion of its Self Service Repair Store, you may be able to fix your device at home.

Users will have the choice of taking their iPads to an Apple Store Genius Bar or attempting certain repairs by themselves with help from Apple’s own resources. The Self Service Repair Store will now offer genuine iPad parts (including displays, batteries, cameras and charging ports), repair toolkits and the ability to arrange an Apple Diagnostics session, among other add-ons. This change also affects independent repair providers who were not previously able to legally repair iPads or offer parts to customers.

The service expansion will cover the iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro (M4), iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad (A16) models.

This follows past expansions Apple has made to its self-repair program, which started in 2022, such as adding the MacBook Pro in 2023. At the time, we noted that this move may be in response to the Right to Repair movement, which has led to repair-oriented legislation in all 50 states. Whatever the reason, Apple has now expanded its own self-repair options to tablet owners.

«At Apple, our goal is to create the world’s greatest products that last as long as possible,» Brian Naumann, vice president of AppleCare, said in a statement. «With today’s announcement, we’re excited to expand our repair services to more customers, enabling them to further extend the life of their products, all without compromising safety, security, or privacy.»

Apple also announced its Self Service Repair options would be expanding this summer into Canada, making it the 34th country offering the program. A representative for Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Technologies

T-Mobile Says It’s Not Spying on You. What the New Screen Recording Tool Actually Does

A new setting that looks like a privacy risk is popping up for some customers. T-Mobile explains what’s really going on.

Some T-Mobile customers during the past week have been surprised to discover a new — and enabled by default — feature in the T-Life app called «Screen recording tool.» In light of recent iffy recording tools such as Microsoft’s Recall AI feature in Windows, seeing a feature that records the contents of your screen is bound to raise privacy concerns.

Screen Recording in T-life
by
u/Ok_Theory5606 in
tmobile

How to disable Screen recording tool if you see it

If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, you can check if this new option has been turned on by opening the T-Life app, tapping Manage and then tapping Settings (the gear icon). The Screen recording tool option shows up under the Preferences heading.

If the option is there, tap it to reveal a description and a toggle switch. The description reads: «We use a tool to record how customers use the app to analyze and improve your experience. Only T-Mobile will review and analyze your info. If you turn this toggle on or magenta, we will record your screen while you use the app. If you turn this toggle off or gray, we will not record your screen.»

To disable the feature, tap the switch so it becomes gray. (The «magenta» and «gray» in the text refer to the color of the toggle switch to indicate whether it’s active or not, respectively.)

Why T-Mobile stands behind the new feature

When I reached out to the company for more information, a T-Mobile spokesperson defended the feature, saying it was designed to improve the user experience.

«To help us give customers who use T-Life a smoother experience, we are rolling out a new tool in the app that will help us quickly troubleshoot reported or detected issues,» the spokesperson said. «This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information. If a customer’s T-Life app currently supports the new functionality, it can be turned off in the settings under preferences.»

According to a post on droidlife, which earlier referenced the issue, the new option shows up on both iPhone and Android phones.

Why opt-in is so important

On the face of it, the Screen recording tool appears to do what it says, and the fact that it’s limited to just the T-Life app is a reasonable, and expected, limitation.

But as with all potential privacy issues, the fact that T-Mobile is enabling the feature by default has rightly made customers suspicious. It should be off initially, and if an issue arises that would require screen recording, then the company could get permission from the phone owner to turn it on.

T-Mobile in fact has a similar setup within the T-Life app. There’s another screen recording feature that is completely separate from this new Screen recording tool. In the app’s settings, under Help & support, is Screen Share, which can be used during a support call. It allows a T-Mobile expert to view your phone’s screen while troubleshooting an issue. It requires several steps and requires you to consent to having your screen recorded before allowing a support expert to connect to the app.

If you’ve ever tried to help a friend or family member over the phone and asked them to describe what’s on the screen, you’ll appreciate how helpful it can be to view what they’re seeing directly.