New Comet SWAN C2020 F8 Is Approaching Earth’s Orbit | C19 Y4 ATLAS Latest Trajectory

• Astral Cosm
  Forget Comet ATLAS, a new comet is approaching Earth’s orbit ASTRONOMERS have discovered a huge comet which is due to swing by the orbit of Earth and the inner planets. Over the past year, astronomers have been keeping an eye on Comet ATLAS, which was set to travel all the way through the solar system as it was pulled towards the Sun. However, observations in the past week have revealed the comet has begun falling apart, crushing astronomers’ hopes that they would get a close-up look of Comet ATLAS as it passed Earth. But now a new comet has been discovered which is due to make its way by Earth’s orbit and the inner planets of Mercury and Venus. Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) was discovered on April 11 which, like ATLAS was meant to, will arrive at the orbit of Mercury in late May. The comet was first discovered by Michael Mattiazzo of Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia, when he was analysing data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory’s (SOHO) SWAN instrument – hence the name. SWAN’s job is to scan the solar system for hydrogen, so for it to see the comet suggests Comet SWAN is currently emitting a lot of hydrogen at the moment. Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC told Space Weather: “For SWAN to see a comet, it means the comet must be producing a fairly significant amount of hydrogen. “This is usually in the form of water-ice. It’s extremely likely that Comet SWAN is in ‘outburst’ mode. “That is, some major eruption happened to this otherwise small and faint comet, releasing a massive cloud of hydrogen-rich volatiles. “SWAN is picking up on this sudden dump of hydrogen into the inner solar system.” If the outburst continues at the current rate, it could mean SWAN becomes visible to the naked eye within a month.
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  However, Mr Battams, who correctly predicted the demise of Comet ATLAS, believes this scenario is unlikely. He continued: “I doubt that the comet will maintain its current impressive appearance, and will quite possibly fade away soon. “But we’ve only been viewing it for a couple of days, so no one knows.” Astronomers had hoped Comet ATLAS could hold out until it got close enough to the Sun so it would be as visible in the night sky as Venus, which looks like a bright star. However, the latest observations have revealed it has begun to fragment. Astronomers believed it was crumbling apart as its brightness began to dip, which suggested it was not as big as it once was. Researchers from the Lulin One-meter Telescope in Taiwan confirmed it was falling apart, with one fragment 3,400 km ahead of the trailing pair. The distance of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) from Earth is currently 176,504,991 kilometers, equivalent to 1.179863 Astronomical Units. Light takes 9 minutes and 48.7573 seconds to travel from Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) and arrive to us. Distance Kilometers 176,504,991 Distance AU1.179863

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