Interesting!

~NightSky

By Michael Snyder

Scientists have just discovered another giant space rock that is rapidly heading in our direction. They think that it will fly past us at a distance of just 0.26 astronomical units, and if they are correct about that it won’t hit us. But we are being warned that Earth will pass through the orbital debris stream of this extremely large comet, and that could result in a significant meteor storm. This comet was first identified less than a week ago, and so any projections that have been made so far could change. It is officially being called “C/2025 R2 (SWAN)”, and it is already “bright enough to detect using binoculars”…

There’s a new, fairly bright comet in the sky, discovered less than a week ago, on Friday, September 12, 2025. The Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) instrument on the SOHO spacecraft detected it. And it’s relatively bright (as comets go), shining at around magnitude 6.2, as of September 16. That’s not quite bright enough to see with the eye, especially considering that the brightness of a comet isn’t point-like as stars are. Comets are “fuzzy.” But it’s bright enough to detect using binoculars, or a camera with a 200-mm lens.

The International Astronomical Union has now given the comet an official name: C/2025 R2 (SWAN). It was originally and temporarily designated SWAN25B.

Prior to last Friday, astronomers had no idea that this giant space rock even existed.

Now it is getting a ton of attention, and it is being anticipated that it will put on quite a show during the month of October.

But nobody knows quite what to expect, because as one astronomer has aptly noted, comets tend to “do precisely what they want”…

What we do know is that this is a very large comet with a very large tail.

In fact, we are being told that it has a tail that is approximately 5 times the length of the diameter of the moon…

Australian comet expert Michael Matiazzo captured a new image of the comet on September 14 (above). It shows an impressive, 2.5-degree-long tail, which translates to about 5 full-moon diameters long!

That is huge!

As the comet travels through space, it leaves a trail of debris behind it.

Unfortunately for us, it appears that Earth will encounter that trail of debris.

At this moment, it is being projected that C/2025 R2 (SWAN) will come within just 0.26 AU of our planet in late October, but we will actually cross the comet’s orbital debris stream in early October…

Between October 18-21, 2025, Comet SWAN will be only 0.26 astronomical units AU from our planet. If it does not fall apart between now and then, it could become a beautiful target for photographers and backyard astronomers. Another date of interest is Oct. 4-6 when Earth may cross the comet’s debris stream. If so, we could have a meteor shower. Stay tuned for updates.

Interestingly, an even larger comet known as 3I/ATLAS will make an uncomfortably close approach to the planet Mars on October 3rd.

So a lot will be happening in the heavens in early portion of the month of October.

Just after 3I/ATLAS has a very close encounter with Mars, it appears that Earth will be entering the orbital debris stream of C/2025 R2 (SWAN).

The most likely date when that will happen is October 5th. That is also the date when the Feast of Tabernacles begins.

If you do not get an opportunity to see C/2025 R2 (SWAN) now, you aren’t going to get another chance in your entire lifetime, because NASA says that it only makes a trip around the Sun every 22,554 years…

This has been quite a year for astronomers.

You may have noticed that there has been a tremendous amount of activity in our “neighborhood” this year.

On Monday, an asteroid that was just discovered on Sunday zipped past our planet at a distance of just 0.78 LD…

A newly discovered asteroid designated 2025 RJ2 will fly past Earth at a distance of 0.78 LD (0.002 AU / 301 334 km / 187 241 miles) at 20:18 UTC on Monday, September 15, 2025.

Since the beginning of the year, observatories worldwide have detected 96 asteroids passing within one lunar distance of Earth.

Asteroid 2025 RJ2 was first observed by Catalina Sky Survey on September 14 — one day before its close approach to Earth.

We have had so many near misses in 2025.

A whopping 96 asteroids have passed within one lunar distance of our planet so far this year, and we are only in mid-September.

That is crazy.

It is just a matter of time before we get hit by something big, but most people don’t seem to realize this.

Another asteroid that was just recently discovered is expected to fly past our planet on Thursday…

NASA has confirmed that an asteroid, 2025 FA22, is set to zip past Earth on September 18, 2025. The rare cosmic event is being tracked by NASA’s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) and JPL. Discovered by the Pan-STARRS 2 Survey in Hawaii earlier this year, FA22 has attracted international and Indian public attention due to its impressive size, estimated to be between 120 and 280 meters.

According to a report in India Today, asteroid 2025 FA22’s size is estimated to be nearly twice the size of the famous Qutub Minar in Delhi, which rises approximately 73 meters. At its maximum estimated size, the asteroid would be nearly four times larger than the monument, making it an enormous object by cosmic standards.

The asteroid FA22 travels in a moderately elongated and slightly tilted orbit around the sun, completing one revolution in about 1.85 years. NASA has confirmed that this asteroid will pass Earth at a distance of roughly 8,42,000 kilometres on September 18, which is a little more than twice the distance to the moon.