The April sky brings with it the first real astronomical surprise of the year. In fact, a new is coming comet Discovered on March 29 by the SWAN tool of the soho solar probe, C/2025 F2 (SWAN)already renamed the “Easter comet”which will be visible simply using binoculars in the morning skies starting from the days around Easter, and shortly after sunset starting from late April/early May. Observing this comet is a real show that happens only once in lifesince the period of this celestial object is well 1.4 million years! The comet, which already shows one weak green tailcurrently stands north-east around the 4:00 in the morningbut it is too weak to be observed, even if equipped with a binoculars, thus requesting at least a small telescope. The best time to identify it up to April 24-25 it is around the 5:00 in the morningwhen the comet has risen to one Tens of degrees on the north-east horizonwhich will therefore have to be quite clear. The Maximum approach of the comet is scheduled for the May 1stwhen it could reach magnitude 4so visible with binocularsshortly after sunset.
How and when to observe the comet
Despite what you read online, it is unlikely that the comet becomes bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. However it will be easily identifiable through a binocularsreaching a total magnitude (i.e. combined hair and tail) equal to about 4.
Currently, the comet is located among the stars of the Constellation of Pegasorising in the north-east direction around 3:55 in the morning. The comet reaches the 10 ° in height on the horizon around At 5:00 in the morning And 20 ° Around 6:00. This time slot is probably the better To observe it, since it is quite high on the horizon and the sky is not yet too bright because of the imminent dawn (around 6:40 am at the Rome coordinates). However, it is necessary to have theNorth-east mackerel horizonand at least have a small telescopebecause the comet currently has total magnitude equal to 8.
Around Easter, on April 20, the comet will gradually increase its brightness, arriving, according to the forecasts, around magnitude 5. At this point the comet can be escort through the use of a binoculars. On that day, it always rises around 4:00 to the north-eastnow being in the Andromeda constellationonly 10th under the Andromeda galaxy. The sun will rise before, around 6:20, so the optimal visibility window will be slightly reducedbeing 10 ° on the horizon from 5:10 in the morning onwards.
Starting from April 24-25 you will have a change in visibility of the comet. The morning observation window is significantly reduced. However, the comet begins to be (laboriously) visible shortly after sunset. The more you go towards the perihelion May 1stthe more brilliant the comet becomes the more the visibility window after the sunset is expanded. On May 1st the sun will set around 20:05, while the comet, which will have reached magnitude 4, will do the same around the 22:00 in a north-west direction. If you are lucky to have the clearing horizon in that direction, you can try the observation with a binoculars Starting from at least half an hour after sunset. You will find the “Easter Comet” in the company of the stars that are part of the Ambassa delle Pleiadi, in the constellation of the bull. The presence of a thin sickle of the moon will help in the observation using a simple binoculars and who knows, the comet could reserve us some surprises and be more brilliant than the forecasts so as to be visible to the naked eye.
If the comet survives intact to Perdie, it will continue to be Visible for another week after sunsetafter which his observation will be the prerogative of the observers of the southern hemisphere.
What we know about the Easter comet
The “Easter Comet”, whose official designation is C/2025 F2 (SWAN)was discovered on 29 March regardless of two amateur comet hunters in the archive of the tools of the instrument Swan On board the SOHO of NASA, in constant monitoring of the sun. Initially designated as Swan25fthe commercial nature of this object was subsequently confirmed by independent observations of astrophils from all over the world, which brought the Minor Planet Center of NASA to designate this comet with the official wording c/2025 F2 (SWAN).
The long exposure images obtained from astrophils around the world show the comet as one small green spherewhich means that the crown, or atmosphere cometary, is rich in Biatomic carbon molecules (C2), which appears green when illuminated by sunlight. The images also show one weak tail which extends into the sky for a couple of degrees.
Credit: Astro.vanbuiten.nl
Currently, the comet is located Above the Eclitic plan (Earth-Sole orbital plan) intersecting it in correspondence with the perihelion May 1stwhen the comet will pass at a distance of about 50 million km from the sunroughly the distance that separates our mercury star. On that day you also have the Maximum approach comet to the earthat a distance of about 144 million km from our planet. By combining the archive data of the comet with the images taken in these days, the astronomers have managed to give a first estimate of the comet period: think that this object approaches the sun every 1.4 million years, a real event that happens once in life.
