Comet C/2025 R2 Swan

Comet C/2025 R2 Swan is a is a long-period comet discovered just a month ago and it already was closest to the sun, but will come closer to Earth.

Its magnitude is only 9.2 and it will be only 10 degrees off the horizon, looking south-west. The comet will go below the horizon around 8:45. This Friday has a clear weather forecast, the weekend will likely be rained out. It will be very close to the Milky Way core, the dark horse. And who knows, there may even be some aurora, the sun is still very active.

Use the longest lens you got for this, the comet will be small and faint. Take as many photos as you can with the comet centered and use a remote control or timed delay with multiple photos. In post processing, stack them using Sequator or Deep Sky Stacker in comet mode (keeps the comet still and creates star trails as it moves from right to left.

The location was chosen to avoid city lights as much as possible, it is a Bortle 4 area. If that is too far for you, find a (preferably elevated) location looking south-west, without city lights in front of you.