The month of October is a treat for stargazers, as they’ll be able to see two different comets, one of which is long-tailed, visible naked to the eye in the middle of the month.
A unique meteor shower is expected between October 4 to 6 as Earth passes through the debris of the comet.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory discovered the comet C/2025 R2, dubbed SWAN R2, on Friday, September 12.
Three days later, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center officially classified it as a comet and renamed it C/2025 R2 (SWAN).
It has been revealed that the comet has a tail length equal to the width of five full moons and it orbits the sun every 22,554 years.
The object is currently moving close to the sun, and if it survives, which is not guaranteed, stargazers will be able to watch the bright comet lighting up the sky on any night between October 20-23.
Astronomers say that even if the comet fails to become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, it could still be observed with stargazing binoculars and a good backyard telescope.
This will be the first naked-eye comet in nearly four years, as the last visible to the naked eye comet was seen in the Summer of 2020. It was dubbed C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).