Meet Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN): A New Celestial Visitor Captured in the UK

A rare cosmic visitor has just made a brief appearance in UK skies – and one astrophotographer was ready to catch it. Famous British astrophotographer Josh Dury might be the very first to photograph comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) (previously named as SWAN25F) since its designation!

“One of the First Photos” – UK Astrophotographer Captures New Comet from Somerset

On the night of 9 April, UK-based night sky photographer Josh Dury managed to capture a glimpse of Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), a newly discovered comet now making its way through the inner solar system.

“It was a challenge, first of all,” Dury told Orbital Today. “The waxing gibbous moon was still up, and the comet was relatively low on the horizon, right in the Great Square of Pegasus.”

Discovered with the help of NASA and ESA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) using the SWAN (Solar Wind Anisotropies) instrument, the comet was originally referred to as SWAN25f before being named C/2025 F2 (SWAN).

Dury noted, “It’s amazing to think this could be one of the first photos since its designation.”

How was Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) discovered?

Discovered by a global team of amateur astronomers, the story of C/2025 F2 (SWAN) began when Volodymyr Bezugly from Ukraine first spotted a suspicious moving object in SWAN satellite imagery on 29 March. That same day, Michael Mattiazzo of Victoria, Australia, independently found “a pretty obvious comet” in the same data, describing it as around 11th magnitude and brightening. Soon after, Rob Matson of California confirmed the sighting, and by 1 April, word was out in the amateur astronomy community, Sky & Telescope reports. The comet received its official name on 8 April.

Viewing the comet is already getting trickier. As the moon grows brighter and the comet shifts toward the dawn light in the constellation Andromeda, observers in the northern hemisphere will soon lose sight of it. “Around 14 and 15 April, it’ll slip into the dawn light,” Dury said. “After that, it will be hidden from view and only visible from the southern hemisphere in the coming weeks.”

If you’re in the north and hoping to see it, act fast – this visitor won’t be sticking around long. And for those south of the equator, get ready. C/2025 F2 (SWAN) could be offering you the best views very soon.