A New Comet Has Been Discovered By NASA And We Might Get To See It By May-End Or Early June

A new comet was found in April 2020 by an amateur astronomer named Michael Mattiazzo who used data from NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO, a satellite) instrument called Solar Wind Anisotropies, or SWAN. According to NASA, we might have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Comet SWAN in late May and early June.

Presently, the comet is barely visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere right before sunrise and it is a delight for eager skywatchers who want to catch a sneak peak of the comet without using a telescope.

NASA said 'SWAN maps the constantly outflowing solar wind in interplanetary space by focusing on a particular wavelength of ultraviolet light emitted by hydrogen atoms. The new comet ¡ª officially classified C/2020 F8 (SWAN) but nicknamed Comet SWAN ¡ª was spotted in the images because it's releasing huge amounts of water, about 1.3 metric tons (about 1.5 imperial tons) per second. As water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, this release made Comet SWAN visible to SOHO's instruments.'

NASA SOHO

Almost all of the comet discoveries have been made using data from SOHO's coronagraph and Comet SWAN is the 3,932nd comet to be found. SOHO's coronagraph is an instrument that blocks out the Sun's brightness by using a metal disk which further reveals the comparatively faint outer atmosphere, the corona. This is the twelfth comet which has been discovered with the help of the SWAN instrument since SOHO was launched 1995. Eight of the 12 comets were also discovered by Mattiazzo.

Chemistry World (Image for representative purposes only)

On May 13, Comet SWAN made its closest approach to Earth yet which was at a distance of 53 million miles. Comet SWAN's closest approach to the Sun will take place on May 27.