Atlantis Draco
C/2020 F8 (SWAN), or Comet SWAN, is a comet that was discovered in images taken by the SWAN camera on March 25, 2020, aboard the Solar Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft.[2][1] Comet SWAN has been dimming a little since May 3rd through it's still near the range of naked eye visibility.[3]
It is 0.6 AU (90 million km; 230 LD) from Earth in the constellation of Cetus and less than 40 degrees from the Sun. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.1 and is visible to the naked eye from a dark site,[3] but the glare of twilight, zodiacal light, atmospheric extinction and a nearly full moon will probably over power naked eye observations. It is best seen from the Southern hemisphere as you currently need to be South of 30° N to see it. It will possibly reach 3rd magnitude in May but will be near the glare of twilight.[4] It will pass through the celestial equator on 7 May headed northward and be near the 2nd magnitude star Algol on 20 May.[1] In the Northern hemisphere it might be best seen at the end of May when it is near the star Capella.
Dragon, the circumpolar demon
Algol /Demon Star
Capella /kəˈpɛlə/, designated α Aurigae (Latinized to Alpha Aurigae, abbreviated Alpha Aur, α Aur), is the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga, the sixth-brightest star in the night sky, and the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere after Arcturus and Vega. A prominent object in the northern winter sky, it is circumpolar to observers north of 44°N. Its name meaning "little goat" in Latin, Capella depicted the goat Amalthea that suckled Zeus in classical mythology. Capella is relatively close, at 42.9 light-years (13.2 pc) from the Sun.
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