Farewell, Comet Lemmon. Why I am so glad I lastly obtained to see this once-in-a-lifetime celestial customer

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon’s present is coming to an finish, no less than for observers within the northern hemisphere.

Having shone vivid sufficient to be clearly seen to the bare eye within the night sky over the past week of October 2025, when it gracefully approached after which handed above the intense star Arcturus, the comet is now sinking decrease and decrease within the west every night.

Soon it can exit the northern sky and develop into extra clearly seen from the southern hemisphere, however it’s already properly previous its greatest and can now fade rapidly because it heads away from the Sun, again into the deep darkish, to not return once more for over a thousand years…

Don’t imagine the hype?

As is unfortunately the best way as of late, Comet Lemmon was hyped as much as an enormous diploma on social media when it moved into the night sky, but it surely by no means ‘lit up the night time sky’ as lots of these posts claimed.

It wasn’t – and was by no means going to be – a Great Comet like Hale-Bopp or Hyakutake, but it surely was a really fairly sight via binoculars and telescopes, and was, as predicted, seen to the bare eye from darkish places at its greatest.

When it’s gone, comet observers will likely be left with very fond reminiscences of this icy customer from the chilly, darkish depths of the Solar System.

Observing Comet Lemmon

But we needed to work for these reminiscences, didn’t we?

When the comet was at its greatest within the morning sky on the finish of September, and as soon as it had moved up into the night sky, clear views of it have been very arduous to get as a result of a sample of foul climate crammed virtually the entire of the UK’s skies with thick cloud that merely refused to budge.

After a number of irritating weeks of attempting to see and picture Comet Lemmon from Kendal, Cumbria, UK, I’ll admit I used to be fairly determined to get a very good have a look at it from Kielder Campsite in Northumberland we went to up there lately.

But the cloud appeared to observe us there, and for the primary 4 days the comet stayed hidden from view.

To my enormous reduction, the clouds finally parted, revealing Comet Lemmon to the decrease left of the Big Dipper’s curved deal with, en path to its rendezvous with Arcturus.

I used to be FINALLY in a position to get pleasure from many good observing classes of the comet, with my bare eye, via binoculars, and likewise via my telescope.

I took plenty of pretty pictures with my Seestar too, which turned out higher than I’d anticipated – and dared hope – they might.

Tracking Comet Lemmon

I additionally took plenty of pictures of the comet utilizing my ‘veteran’ astrophotography rig: an unique iOptron Sky Tracker and DSLR.

If you’re not acquainted with them, the unique Sky Trackers have been mainly massive, white steel bricks, virtually as heavy as a bowling ball.

They have been so primary – primarily simply clockwork drives – that they’re not made anymore. Star monitoring expertise has moved on they usually’re now museum items, changed by rather more superior and rather more sophisticated fashions.

My Star Tracker is in its twilight years now. Its battery compartment cowl is held on with fraying duct tape.

Its as soon as snow-white paint is now pale and chipped in locations; its elevation adjustment knob sticks and creaks like an arthritic knee; the ticking of its motor, as soon as as delicate because the ticking of a Swiss watch, is now beginning to sound wheezy and strained.

But it refuses to die, and as we headed as much as Kielder I used to be actually, actually hoping it will give me some good pictures of Comet Lemmon earlier than it was aligned on Polaris for the final time.

Once the cloud cleared, I arrange my iOptron and began taking pictures.

They appeared very promising on the again of the digicam (they at all times do!), however I used to be unable to take a look at them correctly or course of them till we obtained house, due to my new laptop computer dying.

Frustrating? Just a bit… Now, per week after returning house, I’ve lastly managed to course of these pictures.

And wow… what a comet Lemmon was photographically.

To my amazement, my DSLR pictures confirmed the tail stretching away from the comet’s head for ten levels or extra.

I’d seen this on pictures taken by astrophotographers utilizing state-of-the-art package and superior processing strategies, from places with skies as darkish because the Moon’s, so I used to be amazed and delighted to see them on mine.

The element within the tail was simply outstanding, and the blue gasoline tail and yellow-white hues of the mud tail are actually apparent too.

One final likelihood…

Comet Lemmon is now sinking into the west after darkish, and can quickly be gone. Last night time I attempted yet one more time to picture it, utilizing my Seestar.

The sky right here in Kendal is wrecked by gentle air pollution, so I didn’t count on a lot success, and I solely had a twenty-minute or so window to attempt to get the comet throughout a spot within the cloud, however I caught it simply earlier than it dropped behind the homes.

It has pale rather a lot since I noticed it beneath Kielder’s darkish sky, and its tail has shrunk too, however it’s nonetheless a lovely comet photographically, and southern hemisphere observers will nonetheless get some nice views and pictures earlier than it fades away utterly.

So, farewell Comet Lemmon and thanks.

Maybe you didn’t ‘gentle up the sky’, however you have been nonetheless lovely, and we’ll miss you.

Share your reminiscences and pictures of Comet Lemmon with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com