Now’s the time to see Comet Lemmon

Back to Article List

This celestial customer is placing on a present within the morning and night.

During the previous week, you needed to rise up earlier than morning twilight to identify Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon). And you continue to can. But due to its place within the north, now you can also see it within the night sky. The comet is at the moment passing in entrance of the celebs of the constellation Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. But, as each of the diagrams right here present, it lies close to a star sample that’s rather a lot simpler to seek out: the Big Dipper.

Comet Lemmon is inbound proper now and its closest strategy to Earth will happen October 21, which additionally simply so occurs to be the date of New Moon. Its minimal distance from Earth (known as perigee) will probably be 28.6 million miles (46 million kilometers).

Fortunately, the Moon is changing into a thinner crescent within the sky with every passing day. Plus, it’s solely seen within the morning earlier than dawn, which implies the night sky is freed from its mild.

Observe it

First, discover the time the Sun rises and units at your location. A fast Google seek for, “When is sunrise and sunset at [location]” will do it. Then, head out an hour and a half sooner than your dawn time — or an hour and a half later than your sundown time. In the morning, you’ll must face northeast; within the night, northwest. Use the finder charts right here to determine among the seen stars, after which level binoculars towards the comet’s location and attempt to see it.

Comet Lemmon will transfer into the constellation Boötes the Herdsman on the twentieth. One day later — at perigee — the comet will lie lower than 2° southwest of the magnitude 3.6 star Rho Boötis. Its minimal distance from Earth will probably be 28.6 million miles (46 million kilometers). Weather allowing, the morning and night of the twenty first will probably be when Comet Lemmon seems to be its brightest as a result of that’s when it will likely be closest to us. But comets typically carry out erratically, so observe it a number of days earlier than and several other days after perigee, simply in case.

If you’re utilizing a telescope to look at it, set your instrument exterior about an hour earlier than you propose to make use of it to let it alter to the ambient temperature. Start viewing Comet Lemmon along with your lowest energy eyepiece. Depending on the size of the tail, you would possibly have the ability to see the entire comet. Then, step-by-step, enhance the magnification and scan the comet’s size for particulars. Can you see a single tail, or are there two? Are any elements of the tail brighter than others? Does the tail look disconnected at any level? Take your time.

More particulars

Comet Lemmon was found January 3, 2025, as a part of the Mount Lemmon Survey, which makes use of a 60-inch telescope at Mt. Lemmon, Arizona (a scant 15.5 miles north of the writer’s dwelling). The digicam hooked up to the telescope’s prime focus captures photos which might be 5° sq..

Interestingly, the comet’s present orbital interval is roughly 1,350 years. But after its perihelion passage (its closest strategy to the Sun) on November 8, our star’s gravity will scale back that to 1,150 years. So, the subsequent probability for earthbound observers to see this occasional customer will probably be across the yr 3175.

So, take a couple of minutes within the morning or night (or each!) to identify Comet Lemmon — a ball of frozen gases at the moment dashing previous Earth at 135,000 miles per hour (217,000 kilometers per hour). Don’t wait too lengthy as a result of the comet will begin to fade after the twenty first. Plus, the Moon will reenter the night sky after that date. Now is the time. Good luck!