Keep an Eye Out for a Newly Discovered Comet in October
No stuff, but Skywatchers can be in a October treat when a newly discovered comet crosses our sky. Comet C / 2025 R2 (Swan) – or Swan25B to make it short – seems to be heading for us.
The comet – named after the scientific instrument on the SOHO space observatory, which observes the sun – was spotted for the first time on September 11 by the Ukrainian amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugul, while studying images captured by Swan.
“This is an important step, the 20th Official Coat of Cygne so far,” said Bezugulgly to Universe Today.
Find out more: 7 star applications to locate constellations and more
Bezug discovered one day before the comet reaches her point closest to the sun, known as Périhelion.
“It was an easy comet for detection due to sufficient brightness in the band (ultraviolet) and the location in the images of Cygne, exactly in its center,” told Unity University today. “But it was difficult because of the location very close to the sun and the angular movement, which is very close to the movement of the sun in swan images.”
On September 17, an observatory in Chile took a photograph using a telescope, showing Swan25b with a shiny coma and a striking emerald tail. A coma is an atmosphere that forms around a comet as the sun approaches. The heat of the sun means that frozen gases and frozen pieces in the core of the comet change and create an atmosphere.
“With its still poorly limited orbit due to a very short observation arc, this comet quickly became a fascinating target to follow in the coming weeks,” said the Chile team.
What exactly?
NASA calls the comets “of the snow balls cosmic gas, rock and dust that orbit the sun,” noting that “when it is frozen, they are the size of a small town”.
Their most famous comet functionality is probably the tail. When the comets approach the sun, they heat and spit dust and gases, forming the tail, which moves from the sun. NASA says there are probably billions of comets orbit around our sun.
The most famous comet is the comet of Halley, who appears every 76 years. It was last seen in the sky of the earth in 1986 and will return in 2061.
When should I look for the new comet?
According to LiveScience, the comet should pass closest to the earth around October 19 to 20, and some astronomers think that it could be brilliant enough to observe without telescope or twins. Look for a weak and blurred patch of light. A smartphone application can help you find it.
You can follow the position of Swan25B using Theskylive.com, which gives the distance from the comet with the earth in real time and offers a neat interactive star card. This card allows you to enter your location so that you can see what the sky is like where you live.
It is much easier to see the comet, or all the cosmic characteristics in the night sky, if you move away from the lights of the city and go to a dark area of the country. Try to find a clear night when the clouds have no impact on visibility. Swan25B could be brilliant enough to observe by looking up in the sky.
More strengths of skygazing
October is already a busy month for Skywatchers.
A supermoon will hang in the nocturnal sky larger and more brilliant than usual during his perigee, and a good time to go out to see it is October 6, when there is a full moon. The October Supermoon will be the first of the four consecutive supermoons, which we can expect every month to January next year.
If you are looking for help to guide your Skywatching in October, head to our list of the best star applications.
