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Comets » 

Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 15:08 | Tran: 18:43 | Set: 22:18
Alt: -5.84°   Az: 236.35°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) is in the constellation of Eridanus, at a distance of 2,293,328,308.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 08m 05s and the Declination is -25° 00’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) is 22.87 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) in Eridanus on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) in Eridanus on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 F8 (SWAN)
RA: 04h 07m 02s
Dec: -25° 04’ 56”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 08m 05s
-25° 00’ 59”
04h 24m 11s
08h 32m 17s

J2000

04h 07m 02s
-25° 04’ 56”

Additional Information

Eridanus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.87

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 115.0°
Max altitude: 13.5°
Azimuth: 245.0°
  • C/2020 F8 (SWAN) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2020 F8 (SWAN) is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) from Earth is currently 2,293,328,308.0 kilometers, equivalent to 15.3299528748 Astronomical Units. Light takes 2h 7m 29.720s to travel from Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) and arrive to us.

2,293,328,308.0
15.3299528748
2h 7m 29.720s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of C/2020 F8 (SWAN) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) to Earth happens on Wed May 13 2020 at a distance of 0.555957 Astronomical Units, or 83,170,050 kilometers:

Wed May 13 2020
83,170,050
0.555957

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) at epoch 23 April 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458963.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99984071
Orbit inclination i 110.79607825°
Perihelion distance q 0.43031729 AU
64,374,551 km
Aphelion distance Q 5,402.56709183 AU
808,212,534,872 km
Semi-major axis a 2,701.49870456 AU
404,138,454,711 km
Orbital period period 140,415.5960 years
51,286,796.4402 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2020-May-27 13:06:40
2,458,997.0463 JD
Next perihelion transit 142438-Nov-18 23:40
53,745,793.4865 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 68.198141767531°
Longitude of the ascending node node 260.02865799143°
Mean anomaly M 359.99976452675°
Mean motion n 0.00000702°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8)
View Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 03 04h 08m 42s -25° 19’ 57” 22.84 Eridanus
2025 Feb 04 04h 08m 37s -25° 17’ 38” 22.84 Eridanus
2025 Feb 05 04h 08m 31s -25° 15’ 18” 22.85 Eridanus
2025 Feb 06 04h 08m 26s -25° 12’ 56” 22.85 Eridanus
2025 Feb 07 04h 08m 21s -25° 10’ 33” 22.85 Eridanus
2025 Feb 08 04h 08m 17s -25° 08’ 09” 22.86 Eridanus
2025 Feb 09 04h 08m 12s -25° 05’ 45” 22.86 Eridanus
2025 Feb 10 04h 08m 08s -25° 03’ 20” 22.86 Eridanus
2025 Feb 11 04h 08m 05s -25° 00’ 54” 22.87 Eridanus
2025 Feb 12 04h 08m 01s -24° 58’ 27” 22.87 Eridanus
2025 Feb 13 04h 07m 58s -24° 55’ 59” 22.88 Eridanus
2025 Feb 14 04h 07m 55s -24° 53’ 31” 22.88 Eridanus
2025 Feb 15 04h 07m 53s -24° 51’ 02” 22.88 Eridanus
2025 Feb 16 04h 07m 51s -24° 48’ 32” 22.89 Eridanus

Additional Resources