← Back to gallery

Solar System ·

Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN)

A ten-minute tracked exposure of Comet SWAN from 180 million kilometres away.

Comet C/2020 F8 with a green coma and a field of trailed stars

Select the image to view it at full resolution.

Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) was discovered in early April 2020. It was roughly 180 million kilometres from Earth when I photographed it.

I had an opportunity to image it early on 19 April. Its low altitude, a nearby crescent Moon and high cloud limited the result, but I captured one useful ten-minute exposure.

PHD2 was used to track the comet itself, which is why the background stars appear as trails.