Technologies

Comet Nishimura Survives Brush With the Sun and Enters Evening Sky

The space snowball is now heading back out to deep space for the next four hundred years, but it might be possible to catch it as it goes.

The brightest comet of 2023 is still intact after making a hairpin turn around the sun over the weekend.

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 made its close pass by the sun on Sept. 17 before being flung back out to deep space.

Under dark skies, the comet is easily visible with the naked eye. Unfortunately, as it recedes to the outer limits of the solar system, it is best viewed low on the horizon just after sunset, when it can be washed out by fading daylight.

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.

However, it’s encouraging that Nishimura survived its encounter with the sun and there is always a chance it could brighten as it passes by Earth’s orbit.

How to catch the comet

This comet is trickier to see than other bright comets of the recent pass due to its low angle to the horizon, which is really a reflection of how close it passed by the sun. This is why it’s been most visible before sunrise on its way toward the sun and now after sunset as it recedes into space.

«It’s really best seen with binoculars or a telescope,» Alison Klesman, who holds a doctorate in 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.

The comet has met some serious resistance during its journey in the form of blasts of charged particles and plasma issuing forth from a tumultuous sun. Observers like astrophotographer Michael Jaeger (see above) watched earlier this month 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.

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.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 13, #947

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 13 #947

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features one of those purple categories where you have to recognize four connected words buried inside slightly longer words. It might trip you up. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Wrap it up.

Green group hint: Push or shake around.

Blue group hint: Do not pass Go.

Purple group hint: Not your hand, but with a twist.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Present go-withs.

Green group: Jostle.

Blue group: Accessories for Mr. Monopoly.

Purple group: Parts of the foot plus starting letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is present go-withs. The four answers are bow, card, gift wrap and ribbon.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is jostle. The four answers are elbow, press, shoulder and shove.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is accessories for Mr. Monopoly. The four answers are bowtie, cane, moneybag and top hat.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is parts of the foot plus starting letter. The four answers are otoe (toe), parch (arch), rankle (ankle) and wheel (heel).

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 13, #477

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 13, No. 477.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. Hope you know your college sports arenas! If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Empire State sports.

Green group hint: Fighting with swords.

Blue group hint: Places to play hoops.

Purple group hint: William, but for short.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Teams that play in New York State

Green group: Fencing terms.

Blue group: College basketball venues.

Purple group: Bills.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams that play in New York State. The four answers are Bills, Islanders, Mets and Sabres.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is fencing terms. The four answers are en garde, epee, foil and piste.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college basketball venues. The four answers are Hinkle, Palestra, Pauley and The Pit.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bills. The four answers are Cowher, Parcells, Russell and Self.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

T-Mobile’s New Unlimited Family Plan Pumps Up Perks, but It’s Not for Everybody

The limited-time Better Value plan has appealing features, but the fine print is important.

T-Mobile began the new year with a new phone plan designed for families and accounts with three or more lines. The Better Value plan is available Jan. 14 for what the company says is a limited time, though I confirmed with a representative that it currently has no end date.

Despite its name, the question is whether it actually offers a better value compared to the Essentials plan, which we rank highly in our Best Cellphone Plans, Best Unlimited Data Plans and Best T-Mobile Plans lists.

In fact, after reviewing the specifics, T-Mobile’s Experience More plan — the number two unlimited postpaid plan — presents a more interesting comparison.

Better Value plan pricing and features compared

For an account with three lines, the monthly cost of the Better Value plan is $140 (with AutoPay active), plus applicable taxes and fees. Experience More similarly costs $140 a month for three lines. The Essentials plan costs $90 a month for three lines, but lacks most of the add-ons that make the other two plans appealing.

Both the Experience More and Better Value plans offer unlimited data on T-Mobile’s 5G network, a five-year price guarantee and two-year device upgrades.

However, the Better Value plan includes 250GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, compared to 60GB for the Experience More plan. After those amounts have been used up, data is available at an unlimited rate of 600 kbps. (T-Mobile’s highest tier plan by comparison, Experience Beyond, includes unlimited high-speed hotspot data.)

Better Value also includes more high-speed data when you’re in other countries, with 30GB available in Mexico and Canada, as well as in 215 countries and areas worldwide. That’s more than the Experience More plan, which offers 15GB in North America and 5GB elsewhere.

T-Satellite is also included in the Better Value plan, a feature that costs $10 extra for every other T-Mobile plan except for Experience Beyond.

One appeal of these plans, especially in the context of families, is the set of included streaming services. The Better Value plan and Experience More plan both include Netflix Standard with Ads and Hulu, and Apple TV can be added for $3 per month.

Important qualifications

Here’s where the fine print comes in, and it appears that T-Mobile is aiming to inspire and reward loyalty.

If you’re switching from a different carrier, the Better Value plan requires three or more lines and two eligible ports. Although it’s likely a family or small business would be transferring from another provider and not keeping its other lines, Better Value is an effort to build up group plans and incentivize switching away from other carriers.

If you’re already set up with T-Mobile, the Better Value plan requires that you have been a T-Mobile postpaid customer for at least five years. And if you have that much tenure, you should be aware that your current plan might have taxes and fees included, whereas the Better Value plan doesn’t.

The Better Value plan will be available in the T-Life app and on T-Mobile.com. When you enter a retail T-Mobile store, you’ll likely be directed to the app or website with the assistance of an employee.

See also: I got an in-depth look at T-Mobile’s emergency response programs.