Comet SWAN as captured by Pete Lawrence

May 5, 2020 at 9:44 am

It might prove tricky, but see if you can spot Comet C/2020 F8 Swan racing across the Eastern Skies

Comet C/2020 F8 Swan will be gracing the Eastern skies during May and into June 2020, although it might prove tricky to spot. Discovered in images taken by the SWAN camera aboard the Solar Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft on 25 March 2020, the comet reaches perihelion on 27 May.

At the start of May, it was estimated to be a fraction brighter than mag. +6, putting it within naked eye territory. By late May, preliminary estimates suggest it may brighten to around mag. +3. By 8th May, It's already brightened below +4 magnitude. 

Observing it will be a balancing act due to where the comet is located in the sky versus the onset of evening, morning and Twilight. 

As luck would have it, the comet is expected to reach its peak brightness between 20-22 May.

On the night of 29/30 May, comet C/2020 F8 Swan moves into Auriga approximately 4.5 degrees to the west of Capella (Alpha Aurigae). It continues east, curving south as it goes, to pass one degree south of Capella on the night of 2/3 June.

Visibility for this comet will be complicated by the part of the sky it is in and the proximity of its appearance to the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice (Sun is furthest North on top of the tropic of Capricorn) on 20 June.

On May 12th the comet will breeze some 83 million kilometers (52 million miles) from Earth and come to perihelion on May 27th at a distance of 64 million kilometers (40 million miles) from the Sun. During the second week of May SWAN will stand just a few degrees high in the eastern sky 90 minutes to 2 hours before sunrise for the central U.S. By May 21st its altitude increases to around 5° and subsequently declines at month's end.

Check the Eastern Skies around 4.30 - 5.10 in the morning and if the skies clear in Sri Lanka, you will be able to experience this magnificent comet. 

Comet ATLAS - view from Sri Lanka

Comet ATLAS has faded away. It never reached the expected brightness and scientists believe that the comet disintegrated to smaller pieces making it fade. 

However, we got a new comet - SWAN. it has brighten to magnitude 5 already. So, lets keep fingers crossed. I will have a separate page on it. 

We are SO OVERDUE for a decent - read visible to the unaided eye - comet in the Northern Hemisphere. Maybe, just MAYBE, our wait is over. Comet ATLAS has been brightening quite nicely and is currently visible in binoculars.

The comet is in the northern sky right now near the Big Dipper. See the star chart below.

Comet Atlas is racing toward the inner solar system, and it could become the brightest comet seen in the night sky in over two decades. The comet, discovered by an observatory designed to protect Earth from asteroids, may even be visible during the day just two months from now.

Also known as C/2019 Y4, this comet was discovered by astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii in December 2019. At the time, the comet was exceedingly dim — but the comet became 4,000 times brighter in just a month. This increase is far greater than astronomers predicted, and could potentially signal the comet may soon be exceptionally bright.

Comet ATLAS proved a close match to the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1). Both have periods around 4,000 years, approach within 0.25 astronomical unit (a.u.), or 37.4 million kilometers, of the Sun at perihelion, and are inclined 45° to the ecliptic. These and other orbital similarities were strong enough to conclude that both objects were fragments of a single, much larger comet that broke apart about 5,000 years ago. For all we know there may be additional fragments en route for future appearances.

It is expected that the comet will continue to brighten, and it is possible the comet may be visible to the naked eye sometime in April or May 2020. It will reach its nearest point to Earth on May 23 and come to perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31.

Watch this space and register to SkyAbove news alert (SMS - "REG SKY" to 77000 on your phone) for further details on position of the comet.

So, it is understood that comet Atlas has disintegrated and below pictures prove it. 

Starlink visibility from Earth - Sri Lanka

The SpaceX Starlink is a satellite constellation being constructed by American company SpaceX to provide satellite Internet access.The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites, working in combination with ground transceivers. SpaceX also plans to sell some of the satellites for military, scientific or exploratory purposes.

This bunch of satellites could be viewed from earth from time to time as it passes above geographic locations. The Sri Lankan public will also get their fair share of viewing when the bunch of satellites pass over Sri Lanka. 

The visibility could be low based on condition of the sky above Colombo. Shouldn't be an issue to rest of the Island. Hence, recommend using Binoculars for better viewing. 

The times will be shared via SMS service. To register to the SMS service, type sky and SMS to 77000 on Dialog, Airtel, Hutch or Etisalat phone. 

Starlink constellation, phase 1, first orbital shell: 72 orbits with 22 each, 1,584 satellites at 550 km altitude.

As of January 2020, SpaceX has deployed 242 satellites. They plan to deploy 60 more per Falcon 9 launch, with launches as often as every two weeks after late 2019. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites will be deployed by the mid-2020s, with a possible later extension to 42,000. The initial 12,000 satellites are planned to orbit in three orbital shells: first placing approximately 1,600 in a 550-kilometer-altitude (340 mi) shell, then approximately 2,800 Ku- and Ka-band spectrum satellites at 1,150 km (710 mi) and approximately 7,500 V-band satellites at 340 km (210 mi). Commercial operation could begin in 2020.

Concerns have been raised about the long-term danger of space junk resulting from placing thousands of satellites in orbits above 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and a possible impact on astronomy, although SpaceX is reportedly attempting to solve the issue.

The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in May 2018 to be about US$10 billion. Product development began in 2015, with the first two prototype test-flight satellites launched in February 2018. A second set of test satellites and the first large deployment of a piece of the constellation occurred on 24 May 2019 (UTC) when the first 60 operational satellites were launched. The SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington, houses the Starlink research, development, manufacturing and on-orbit control operations.

January 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Addition to the Lunar Eclipse, this would be the only occasion in this decade where the moon will be furthest north. The next event where the moon would move further north will be in 2031. 

Keen observers in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa may see the Moon turn a shade darker during the maximum phase of this penumbral lunar eclipse. Most penumbral lunar eclipses cannot be easily distinguished from a usual Full Moon.

Regions seeing, at least, some parts of the eclipse: Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Much of North America, East in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic.

Lunar eclipses can be visible from everywhere on the night side of the Earth, if the sky is clear. From some places the entire eclipse will be visible, while in other areas the Moon will rise or set during the eclipse.

Event	UTC Time	Time in Sri Lanka	Visible in Sri Lanka
Penumbral Eclipse begins	10 Jan, 17:07:44	10 Jan, 22:37:44	Yes
Maximum Eclipse	10 Jan, 19:10:02	11 Jan, 00:40:02	Yes
Penumbral Eclipse ends	10 Jan, 21:12:19	11 Jan, 02:42:19	Yes

* The Moon is above the horizon during this eclipse, so with good weather conditions in Sri Lanka, the entire eclipse is visible.

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds.

The magnitude of the eclipse is -0.116.

The penumbral magnitude of the eclipse is 0.895.

The total duration of the eclipse is 4 hours, 5 minutes.