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.
