"In October, a newly discovered comet will streak so close to Earth that people may be able to make out its heavenly fireworks with the naked eye - a spectacle that won't happen again for more than a millennium, according to Space.com, so it's worth trying to spot it. This icy interstellar visitor, now given the clunky name of C/2025 R2 (SWAN), is estimated to make its closest approach to Earth at a mere 25.10 million miles away on around October 21, Space.com reports. It's visible to people with telescopes and binoculars in the Southern Hemisphere, but it may become bright enough to see unaided as its trajectory brings it into view in the Northern Hemisphere."
"The comet came to public attention when Ukrainian amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly spotted the dusty bright ball this month while examining images from the Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera that's on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a spacecraft whose mission is to observe the Sun. Images show a ball of light shooting through the starry blackness of space, with acharacteristic comet tail streaking behind it."
""This is a milestone, the 20th official SWAN comet so far," Bezugly told Universe Today in an interview. "It was an easy comet for detection due to sufficient brightness in the UV (ultraviolet) band and location in the SWAN images, exactly in its center.""
The icy interstellar visitor designated C/2025 R2 (SWAN) will make its closest approach to Earth at approximately 25.10 million miles around October 21. Observers in the Southern Hemisphere can already see it with telescopes and binoculars, and it may brighten enough for naked-eye visibility as it moves into Northern Hemisphere skies. The comet was detected in Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera images from the SOHO spacecraft by Ukrainian amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly. Orbital calculations indicate a roughly 1,400-year period, making this close pass rare. Astronomers plan to capture images and data because comet composition may reveal clues about Solar System formation.
Read at Futurism
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