The SWAN Imaging system has found a new comet.
It has not been assigned an official designation yet, so currently known as SWAN25F.
It’s bright enough to be seen in the early morning sky before dawn in the northern part of The Square of Pegasus.
The comet is currently about 9th magnitude and sports a very interesting tail, about two and a half degrees long, with lots of nice structure. It will need at least binoculars or a small telescope to spot it.
Any detail will best be revealed in photographs.
The maps below show the comet’s position at 4am (UT) over the next few weeks.
I have added the Orbital Elements at the bottom of this page if you want to add the comet to your planetarium program.
From my location, it will reach about 15 degrees above the horizon in the eastern morning sky before it gets light.
This COULD, JUST give me a chance of catching it just above our neighbour’s house.
If you want to do the same, you’ve got to be quick, as it won’t be visible to us for long.
The comet moves into Andromeda in mid-April, curving around to Triangulum, where we’ll be starting to lose it in the morning twilight.
By the end of the month, it will approach Taurus, passing the Pleiades Star Cluster on May 3rd. However, we won’t be able to see this as they will both be too close to the Sun to be seen.
Once it passes The Sun, the comet will only be observable from the southern hemisphere.
Good luck folks.
Comets path in Northern Pegasus:
A wider view of the through northern Pegasus and Andromeda.
Wide view of the SWAN25F’s path from Pegasus to Taurus:
SWAN25F orbital elements for use in a planetarium program.
