| Dr Ski in Valencia, Philippines (latitude 9 degrees north), caught this image of the comet on May 2, 2020, and wrote, “Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) was discovered in March by NASA’s SOHO imaging.

That is when the comet will be close to its maximum brightness.įor more details, and to view Comet SWAN online at the time named above, visit Virtual Telescope Project View at EarthSky Community Photos.

The live, free feed will run on at 19:00 UTC. Observing a nice comet is always an unforgettable experience … We will observe comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) thanks to our robotic telescopes, sharing it live with the world, via the internet, making possible for you to spot this cosmic snowball from your home. Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Rome wrote: On the day of perihelion, you have an opportunity to view the comet online. It’s now heading toward its perihelion, or closest point to the sun, on May 27, 2020. This comet has already come closest to Earth (on May 12-13, 2020), at a distance of 51.7 million miles (83.2 million km). That’s because the comet is rising only shortly before the sun, and can be found near the horizon when dawn breaks. Image via Gianluca Masi/ Virtual Telescope Project.Ĭomet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) is now visible with good binoculars in Northern Hemisphere skies, too, although finding it requires skill, with only a small window for locating it each day.

Central Daylight Time in North America translate UTC to your time). The free live feed will run on May 27, 2020, at 19:00 UTC (2 p.m. The Virtual Telescope Project is calling its online event The Beauty of Comet C/2020 F8 Swan.

Using telescopes in stellarium web