New green-tailed comet discovered: When, where, and how to see it in April and May 2025

A new comet, C/2025 F2 (SWAN) is now visible in the sky and can be discovered in the east just before dawn. As per reports, the Minor Planet Center officially designated the comet SWAN25F as C/2025 F2 (SWAN) on April 8, 2025. SWAN is an instrument designed to study the Sun by mapping variations in the solar wind. It captured images in late March, in which Australian amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo spotted the new comet.

Various comet observers analysing the images captured by the SWAN camera aboard NASA 's SOHO solar observatory spotted a comet moving through them. Soon, the comet became visible, and they informally named it 'Comet SWAN F2' while they awaited the official confirmation.

Now that the comet has been officially assigned a name and is visible without a telescope, too, people have been waking up before dawn to see the comet with their cameras and telescopes. The comet is situated within the famous star pattern, the Great Square of Pegasus .

How does C/2025 F2 (SWAN) look?
The comet is currently quite small and visually much tinier than its nearby globular cluster M15. Through the telescopes, it appears like a blurred star.
However, the long-exposure images captured through telescopes reveal a slender, whip-like tail to the comet, which extends to at least a degree across the sky. It has also revealed that the comet has a vivid green hue.

C/2025 F2 (SWAN)'s journey ahead
Soon, the comet will exit the Great Square of Pegasus and reach the neighbouring Andromeda constellation on April 13, 2025. Further on, it is anticipated to reach closest to the Sun on May 1st, 2025. Then, it will be visible in the evening sky in the constellation Taurus, and its brightness will also peak to approximately magnitude +4.

In May, the comet will look low in the northwest twilight after sunset, near the Pleiades star cluster and then will move on to the neighbouring Hyades cluster.

How to view the C/2025 F2 (SWAN)?
The best way to get a look at this newly visible comet is to look toward the east-northeastern horizon just before sunrise. While it is not visible to the naked eye, binoculars and telescopes will provide a better view of the comet.