Media Release
Udupi, May 11: A chance to see a comet like Halley’s comet is once in a lifetime opportunity for most. The long-tailed glory called the Halley will not appear again until 2061. Millennials having missed the sight will have to wait another 40 years to catch a glimpse of Halley.
Perhaps there is another opportunity to get a glimpse of a comet before Halley’s appearance, the comet SWAN that flies across the sky each morning. The C/2020 F8 comet, the comet SWAN as it was observed by the SWAN camera of the Solar Heliosphere Observer (SOHO), is on its way around the sun approaching close to the earth and getting brighter each morning making it a great sight for years to come.
Comets are objects in the solar system made of ice that orbit the Sun, like the Earth or the Moon around the Earth. With an elongated circular orbit (elliptical) around the Earth, the Moon comes closer to Earth (supermoon) and moves away (micro moon) from time to time. A comet does the same around the sun, except when closest to the sun, it is amidst the inner planets and when farthest it is beyond the eight planets.
On its path around the sun, when it gets close to the sun, the ice melts and creates an atmosphere (coma) and/or a tail to the comet. Comet SWAN is currently on this path reaching its closest point near the sun on May 27. But unlike Halley’s comet, SWAN might not be visible for a million years after this year.
Due to its proximity to the Sun, the comet is visible from the Earth only for about an hour and a half before sunrise. In the Northern Hemisphere for places like Udupi and Mangaluru, the comet will make an appearance around 4 am each morning and follow a path across constellations.
The comet is currently in Pisces constellation (Meena Rashi) and will move into the constellation Triangulum (Trikoni Rashi) on May 15. Triangulum may be located at 56 degrees from North towards North East around 5:30 am.
As each day passes, the constellations rise 4 mins earlier and Triangulum will rise higher each day and on May 18, the comet having entered the constellation Perseus (Partha Rashi) which will rise after Triangulum slightly towards the North at 43 degrees.
The best day to watch the comet is on May 20 as the comet passes by Algol, the second brightest star in the Partha Rashi. Plenty of skymap apps are available that will help in identifying this star and locate the comet. The comet will also be the brightest on this day and hence easier to notice. The comet will remain in same brightness till May 22 for amateur astronomers to see.
After May 22, the comet proceeds taking a turn around the sun reaching closest to the sun on May 27 and moving further into the constellation of Auriga (Vijaya Sarathi Rashi) on May 30 passing by the bright star Capella (Brahma Hridaya nakshatra) on the morning of June 3. By this time, after having taken a turn, the comet moves away from the Sun and Earth towards the outer edges of the solar system.
While the comet is on its way getting close to the Sun, it also comes closest to Earth around this time. It would be at a distance of 8.582 crore km on May 11 reaching closest to Earth at a distance of 8.507 crore km on May 13. Thereafter moving away from Earth after May 13, reaching 8.662 crore km on May 15, 9.657 crore km on May 19 and further on June 4 at 18.17 crore km.
The comet was estimated to be bright enough to be barely visible through binoculars is now visible to the naked eye as the people in the Southern Hemisphere have reported sightings. The comet, if all goes well, will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere in May as it turns bright and makes a turn around the sun.
As per the current reports from COBS, the brightness is fluctuating, the only hope is that the comet remains intact and bright for people to catch a glimpse of this astronomical phenomena and hope it does not disintegrate like comet ATLAS.