Comet Swan and its 11 million-mile-long tail will be visible in the night sky tonight and you may be able to see it with the naked eye.
The ball of ice was only discovered in April 2019 by astronomer Micael Mattiazzo from Australia. It’s already passed the Earth but it’s now getting brighter as it approaches the sun.
Those of us in the northern hemisphere will be able to see the comet low on the horizon in the pre-dawn hours tonight. It will be most visible in the southern hemisphere.
The ball of ice and dust has a beautiful green tinge and only visits the inner part of our solar system once every 11,597 years. It has a huge tail that stretches nearly 11 million miles behind it.
Current estimates suggest that by the end of May it could be a lot more visible than in its current state – if it survives that long.
The closer it gets to the sun, the hotter the comet gets, ejecting more material and reflecting more sunlight to make it more visible to us.
Comet Swan will be visible tonight and through the weekend as a faint and fuzzy dot with a long tail. You can get a clearer view with binoculars or a small telescope.
A comet differs to a meteor in that it is a rock covered in ice, methane and over basic compounds and their orbit usually takes them much further out of the solar system. A meteor, on the other hand, is a flash of light when debris burns up.
Comet Swan isn’t the only spectacular happening in our skies over the next few months with Venus and Mercury appearing very close together between May 21st and May 23rd.
You may also be able to see Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites over Manchester this evening between 9:30 and 11pm. For more information on the times see here.
