NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day entry dated August 24, 2026 reported that periodic Comet 220P/McNaught is normally so dim that a telescope is needed to see it. Two outbursts that year had made it about 20,000 times brighter than usual, the entry said, leaving it visible through binoculars and long-duration camera exposures.

The image featured in the entry, a long-duration exposure taken 10 days earlier in South Africa, shows the comet's bright green head and a short dust tail. The entry said the comet continues to orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter with a period of over 5 years. The reasons for the outbursts are unknown, though the entry said they could stem from the release of built-up subsurface gas or comet quakes.

According to the August 24 entry, Comet 220P was expected to pass about one Earth-Sun distance from Earth in October 2026 and then fade quickly as it began its return to the far part of its orbit. The image was credited to Spilios Asimakopoulos.