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Credit & Copyright: Daniel Korona
Explanation:
A newly discovered comet is already visible with binoculars.
The comet,
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) and nicknamed SWAN25B,
is brightening significantly as it emerges from the
Sun's direction and might soon become visible on your smartphone --
if not
your eyes.
Although the brightnesses of
comets are notoriously hard to predict,
many comets appear brighter as they approach the Earth, with
SWAN25B reaching only a quarter of the Earth-Sun distance near October 19.
Nighttime skygazers
will also be watching for a
SWAN25B-spawned
meteor shower around
October 5 when our Earth passes through the plane of the
comet's orbit.
The unexpectedly
bright comet was discovered by an
amateur astronomer in images of the
SWAN instrument on
NASA's
SOHO satellite.
The comet is currently best observed in southern skies but is slowly moving north.
The featured image was captured at sunset three days ago
just above the western horizon in
Zacatecas,
Mexico.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet
Publications with words: comet
See also:
- APOD: 2025 September 18 Á Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN
- APOD: 2025 July 7 Á Interstellar Comet 3I ATLAS
- Comet C/2025 F2 SWAN
- APOD: 2025 February 5 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
- APOD: 2025 February 2 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
- APOD: 2025 January 28 Á Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
- APOD: 2025 January 26 Á The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS