Tuesday 04 / November / 2025
Muscat: Oman Society of Astronomy and Space has observed and photographed Comet SWAN (C/2025 R2–SWAN) in the skies over the Sultanate of Oman as one of the key astronomical phenomena during the last quarter of 2025.
Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Mahrooqi, Vice Chairman of Oman Society of Astronomy and Space said that observing and taking photographs of the comet comes within the effort of the the Society to follow and document the key astronomical events.
He further pointed out that Comet SWAN is one of the non-periodical comets coming from the the solar system. The comet has an orbit term of over 20,000 years, which makes its appearance a unique event that will not been seen again in thousands of years, he added.
He said that the comet was first photographed by Ukrainian amateur astronomist B. Vladimir on 11 September, 2025 by SWAN (Solar Wind Anisotropies) tool available at the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
He said that the comet crossed its nearest point to the Sun on 12 September, 2025 at the distance of 0.5 astronomical units and appeared closest to the Earth on 20 October, 2025 at a distance of 0.261 astronomical units (about 39 million kilometres ).
Al Jalandi bin Masaud Al Rawahi, from Oman Society of Astronomy and Space, also managed to observe and photograph Comet SWAN from the skies over the Sultanate from a dark, light-free area in Muscat Governorate.
