New comet spotted: How to see SWAN25F
FILE - A woman looks through a telescope during a fully illuminated moon in Caracas on March 13, 2025. (Photo by JUAN BARRETO / AFP) (Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)
Attention sky watchers!
A new comet has been officially announced and you might miss your chance to see it before it could potentially get burned up by the sun.
SWAN
Dig deeper:
The comet, nicknamed SWAN25F, was officially designated as C/2025 F2 by the Minor Planet Center on April 8, according to Earthysky.org.
The backstory:
SWAN was co-discovered by Vladimir Bezugly from Ukraine and Michael Mattiazzo from Australia.
The comet was nicknamed after the SWAN Instrument which was used to discover it.
FILE - A man scours the night sky with binoculars and camera equipment from the Rock of Dunamase in Co Laois. (Photo by Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)
How to see SWAN
The best way to view the comet is to look toward the east-northeastern horizon just before sunrise.
Binoculars or a telescope will improve your chances of seeing it, Earthsky advised.
For those who are avid star gazers, look to the star Alpha Andromedae, or Alpheratz, the brightest of the four stars in the Great Square.
The comet will pass fairly close to Alpha Andromedae on April 13, 2025.
What's next:
In a few weeks, the comet will make its closest approach to the sun and, if it survives, it could be seen during sunsets beginning in May.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from Earthsky.org and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory website. This story was reported from Los Angeles.