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Dave Samuhel discusses stargazing and how weather affects viewing conditions of astronomical phenomena.
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Weather Blogs / Astronomy
New comet now visible to the naked eye
By Dave Samuhel, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published May 1, 2020 3:32 PM EDT
Comet C/2020 F8, or simply Comet SWAN, was only discovered in the last few weeks. However, it has quickly brightened and is now just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.
The comet is expected to grow brighter as it approaches the sun. It will make its closest path to Earth on May 13. However, it will still be around 50 million miles away from our planet.
This comet has brightened significantly over the last week, and it should grow a bit brighter. The problem is its location in the sky.
The comet is near the constellation Pisces. This constellation rises just before the sun, so you have only a small window to spot the comet. It will be visible only an hour or less before sunrise.
The comet should be a little higher in the sky from late May into June. However, no one knows how bright it will be by then. We will be watching this one for sure! Thanks for reading. Just look up; you never know what you will see!
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