La queue ionique de la nouvelle comete SWAN
Image Credit & Copyright:
Gerald Rhemann
Newly discovered Comet SWAN has already developed an impressive tail.
The comet came in from the outer
Solar System and has just passed inside the
orbit
of the Earth.
Officially designated
C/2020 F8 (SWAN),
this outgassing interplanetary iceberg will pass its closest to the
Earth on May 13,
and closest to the
Sun
on May 27.
The comet was
first noticed in late March by an astronomy enthusiast
looking through images taken by ESA's and NASA's Sun-orbiting
SOHO spacecraft,
and is named for this spacecraft's
Solar Wind Anisotropies
(SWAN) camera.
The featured image, taken from the
dark skies in
Namibia in mid-April, captured
Comet SWAN's
green-glowing coma and unexpectedly long, detailed, and
blue ion-tail.
Although the brightness of comets are notoriously
hard to predict, some models have Comet SWAN becoming
bright enough to
see with the unaided eye during June.