Astronomy Picture of the Day: 20/01/2026
- lizarmarego
- Jan 20
- 2 min read
Object Name: C/2025 R2 (SWAN)
Copyright: Emanuel Emanuel
Location: Summerholm, QLD
Skill level: Advanced (5-10 years)
Image Title
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) from Summerholm
Artists' statement
Imaged with a bit of smoke haze from burn offs and at low altitude. Hence the noisy background. I am still very happy for this result for a OSC. AstroPixel Processor for stacking, used the Comet Stacking feature for the comet and the normal stacking for the stars. Spica is shining brightly nearby.
How This Image Was Captured
Gear used
ZWO294MC Pro, Askar 80PHQ at f/5.7 (Askar 0.76 reducer), Skywatcher EQ6R Pro mount.
Exposure details
121 Gain at -5degrees, 22m 30s (45 × 30")
Processing notes
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) by Emanuel Polichronis Published: Sep 16, 2025 Total integration: 22m 30s Integration per filter: - Lum/Clear: 22m 30s (45 × 30") Equipment: - Telescope: Askar 80PHQ - Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro - Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro - Filter: Astronomik IR Blocker 1.25" - Accessories: Askar 80PHQ F5.7 Reducer, ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF - Software: Affinity Photo 2, Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP), Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator For more information, visit AstroBin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/6rkb7z
Exploring C/2025 R2 (SWAN)
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) is a long-period comet that was discovered on the 11th of September 2025 by a Ukeainian amateur astonomer Vladimir Bezugly using the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft. SWAN stands for (Solar Wind ANisotropies). This comet as a long and highly eccentric orbit typical of comets coming from the distant outer Solar System, with an orbital period of hundreds to thousands of years. It passed its closest point to the Sun on the 12th of September, not long after it was discovered.
It made its closest approach to Earth in October of 2025. This comet was one of the more noteworthy comets vsible in late 2025 due to its relative brightness and proximity during its pass through the inner Solar System.
Behind the Selection
This image has been able to capture the comet in full motion, you can see thr bright compact coma with an extraordinarily long and delicate tail that stretches across a huge part of the sky. This tail also isn't static - it's shaped by solar radition and the solar wind, so this is literally a snapshot of the Sun interacting with an ancient object!
The glowing colours of the nucleus agaisnt the deep black background and dense starfield makes the comet feel alive and transient, while the stars feel eternal.
This image also shows that while the comet looks small, the tail spans millions of kilometers in real space, The image quietly conveys cosmic scale without needing any explanation.
Comets like this don't hang around and many will never return. The image freezes a moment that may never be seen again in human history. This image combines beauty, physics and motion in a single-frame
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