A new #comet was discovered last month by amateur astronomer Micheal Mattiazzo from Australia. Just, he did not look at the sky to do so. He inspected images from #SOHO, our Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
Meet C2020/F8, aka Comet SWAN 👇👍
Details 👉
esa.int/Science_Explor…
Meet C2020/F8, aka Comet SWAN 👇👍
Details 👉
esa.int/Science_Explor…
Here is a photo of the comet from 2 May 👇
Today, it reached its closest approach to Earth at around 85 million km, and it is headed towards its closest point to the Sun on 27 May. It is now faintly visible to the naked eye. Will it become brighter?
Today, it reached its closest approach to Earth at around 85 million km, and it is headed towards its closest point to the Sun on 27 May. It is now faintly visible to the naked eye. Will it become brighter?
It can be extremely difficult to predict the behaviour of comets, but scientists are hopeful that Comet SWAN will remain bright enough to see as it continues its journey. If it survives, star gazers should look for it near the bright star Capella in the constellation of Auriga ☄️
This is the 12th comet discovery from the SWAN instrument on the ESA/NASA #SOHO, and the 3932nd comet discovered by SOHO – most of them thanks to #citizenscience 👍 Comet scientists & enthusiasts around the world are eagerly awaiting the 4000th discovery soon #SOHO4000 #StayTuned 
