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Dazzling Comet Nishimura Is Bright Enough to See With the Naked Eye

The space snowball is about to make its closest pass by the Earth as it speeds toward the sun.

The brightest comet of 2023 is making its close pass by our planet over the next couple of days and it is now shining as bright as many stars. 

Under dark skies, the comet is easily visible with the naked eye. Unfortunately it’s best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere in the hour before dawn, when the rising sun can make it more challenging to spot.  

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. 

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 in 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. 

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. 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.

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!

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Technologies

Tubi App Goes Live in ChatGPT to Give You TV and Movie Recommendations

Like the ultra-customized feel of a Tubi rec? The streamer aims to make it even more personalized.

Tubi, the free streaming platform known for its vast library of cult classics and indie movies, has added an app to ChatGPT. You can now use the chatbot to find content recommendations for TV shows and movies on Tubi, the streamer announced on Tuesday.  

You may already have your own search strategy when using Tubi, but the addition of the native app within ChatGPT allows you to strike up a conversation and ask for uber-specific, personalized title suggestions. If you see a film or show that captures your interest, you have the option to click «Watch on Tubi» to stream it on a mobile device or the web. In the mood for scary movies about yetis? Use @Tubi for your prompt in the chatbot and request something like, «horror movies with aggressive yetis» and expect to see a selection of titles that fit your wish list. 

«Streaming should feel effortless, and as chatbots and AI agents are becoming a common way people navigate the internet, Tubi is expanding its discovery experience to meet viewers in the moment they’re expressing intent in their own words,» Mike Bidgoli, Tubi’s chief of product and technology, said in a statement. 

ChatGPT opened its app store this past December. It currently includes apps for Apple Music, Zillow, Spotify and Canva, offering the ability to connect your accounts to search, design or ask for recommendations. Back in 2023, Tubi created its own AI-powered tool called Rabbit AI for mobile users to help audiences find content to watch. The company later shuttered the feature, which used Open AI’s Chat GPT-4. With today’s launch, it’s the first video streaming service to add an app within ChatGPT.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)  

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Technologies

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Can Play Tomb Raider and More All April Long

Subscribers can also explore a Soulslike game that just got a big update.

PlayStation Plus, which is Sony’s version of Xbox Game Pass, offers a large, constantly expanding library of games. Subscribers can choose from the Essential, Extra and Premium tiers, each with unique perks and benefits. Starting at $10 a month, the plans give subscribers access to games and rewards, and each month, all subscribers can play a handful of new games at no additional charge. And some people on Reddit are pretty excited for a few of the games Sony is offering subscribers throughout April.

One user wrote how they are «buzzing» for the remastered Tom Raider games, while another user is willing to replay the Soulslike game Lords of the Fallen. «April fools’ joke? Because they’re actually good,» a third user wrote.

If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can play these games now until May 4.

Lords of the Fallen

If you played Elden Ring and thought, «I wish this game had even more grimdark elements to it, like Bloodborne,» Lords of the Fallen might be for you. Choose one of nine classes to play as while you traverse the lands of the living and the dead in order to overthrow the demon god Adyr. You’ll fight all manner of monstrosities along the way, like a colossal humanoid with an arm protruding from its mouth or a giant carrion crow that wears a human skull. 

HexWorks, the gaming studio behind Lords of the Fallen, also released a patch for the game on April 3. The patch is intended to make co-op sessions feel more rewarding for hosts and guests, so you and your friends should have even more fun in this game.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered

Experience these classic Tomb Raider games from the 90s all over again — or for the first time — with the remastered trilogy. You’ll explore jungles, solve puzzles in the desert and tackle mercenaries and monsters along the way. While you can enjoy the boosted graphics of the remastered edition, you can also enable low-poly mode to experience these games as you would have almost 30 years ago.

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream

A system called Galaxia has been added to Alfheim Online, allowing players to relive the past. But the system has spun out of control, displacing players throughout time. To set things right, you’ll have to work with friends and foes alike in this co-op raid battle game. But if you want to go solo, you can play story mode as characters from across space and time confront the anomaly in the VR world.

For more on PlayStation Plus, here’s what to know about the service. You can also check out other games on PlayStation Plus and games on Xbox Game Pass.

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Technologies

Get Organized for Just $28 With This 6-in-1 Baseus Charging Station Deal

Ditch the cluttered cables and upgrade to this sleek USB power strip while it’s on sale for a record-low price.

For just $28, this six-in-one Baseus charging station can help you keep your desk organized. That’s 20% off and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen for this 120-watt USB power strip. We don’t expect this limited-time deal to last for long, however, so you’ll want to get your order in sooner rather than later.

You can use this charging station for just about all of your devices, including phones, tablets, headphones and laptops. It’s equipped with four USB-C ports and two USB-A ports, so you can charge up to six devices at once. It also boasts a 65-watt single-port output, enough to fully recharge a MacBook Air in less than 2 hours. And at just 323 grams, it’s light enough to take on the go, making it a great buy for frequent travelers.

Why this deal matters

This sleek Baseus charging station can connect to up to six devices at once, and is still small enough that you can take it on the go. Plus, this is the all-time lowest price we’ve seen, making it a pretty great value.

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