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muriel_volestrangler

(105,150 posts)
2. "SWAN" turns up in many comet names, after the instrument that has detected them
Wed Sep 24, 2025, 12:21 PM
Sep 24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_SWAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_and_Heliospheric_Observatory#Instruments
(just as "ATLAS" is also the name of an instrument)

I guess this is the one you'd read about - reached peak brightness from Earth on 16th Sept:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2025_R2_%28SWAN%29
No idea where "100 time the size" comes from. Size of the nucleus? Of the coma or tail? Something to do with apparent magnitude, ie brightness as seen from Earth, perhaps? 3I/ATLAS won't be visible to the naked eye:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3I/ATLAS says "300 times fainter than comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN)" on 21st Sept.

Did the Mars info come from the Pole Corter observatory?

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