Comet Swan is visible to the naked eye, and it may get even brighter
The Comet C / 2020 F8 SWAN was captured by the Australian Siding Spring telescope.
Esposito Raffaele / Telescopic Siding Spring / Spaceweather.com
The comet Swan has already passed Earth, but its journey towards the sun could make it more spectacular. It is the latest comet to tease Skywatcher with its gorgeous tail, which is approximately 16 million kilometers long.
The comet atlas seemed like a big deal Earlier this year before it disintegrated and failed. Now the comet still hangs around and refuses to die, but it’s not quite as bright as Comet C / 2020 F8 swan that was discovered End of March.
Now Comet Swan could fulfill the promise of a rare night sky show that Atlas did not deliver. Swan was already visible to people with exquisitely dark skies and keen eyes. Others may also be able to see it with binoculars.
astronomer Con Stoitsis said Some predictions show that the comet will continue to brighten in the coming days. “It should be an ‘obvious’ target with the naked eye in mid-May,” he said on Twitter.
The comet passed Earth closest on May 13 and comes closest to the Sun on May 27.
There are a number of tools online – TheSkyLive is a great place to start – to help you find the comet swan in the night sky. And of course that comet also has a Twitter account to follow.
Remember that comets are notoriously capricious, as the Comet Atlas has shown, and that Swan can go from quick brightening to fragmentation and fading at any time.
With that in mind, it’s probably a good idea to catch it now.
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