Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Destination: Alpha Centauri => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2025, 04:07:45 pm

Title: Everything to Know About Comet Lemmon and How to See It
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2025, 04:07:45 pm

Everything to Know About Comet Lemmon and How to See It
Cassidy Ward
SYFY (https://www.syfy.com/)
Wed, October 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM EDT
5 min read


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Comet Diagram


If you’ve ever wanted to see a chunk of the early solar system with your own eyes, now’s your chance. The comet C/2025 A6, commonly called Comet Lemmon, is currently on approach with the inner solar system and astronomers suspect it’s going to put on quite a show.

Lemmon will make its closest approach with Earth Oct. 21 and it’ll keep getting brighter through the end of the month. It will reach its closest distance with the Sun on Nov. 8, before turning back toward the outer solar system. Comet Lemmon won’t be back in our neck of the woods for 1,155 years, so this is our one and only chance to see it before the year 3180. Here’s everything you need to know to see it before it’s gone.


What we know about Comet Lemmon

Comets are mostly big chunks of ice covered in organic material leftover from the formation of the solar system. Often called “dirty snowballs” comets may have delivered organic compounds and water to the early Earth and other parts of the solar system.

As a comet nears the Sun, its frozen nucleus warms and develops an atmosphere called a coma. Moving at high speed and under the increasing influence of the solar wind, some of the comet’s gas and dust trails behind it in an incredible tail hundreds of millions of miles long.

If a comet gets too close to the Sun it can burn or break up, but if it stays a safe distance away, it lives to return again in the future. Some comets have relatively short orbital periods, like Comet Halley, which returns every 76 years or so. Others, like Lemmon, seemingly come out of the black.

As long as you’ve got a telescope or a decent pair of binoculars, there are three comets sharing the autumn night sky: SWAN25B, 3I/ATLAS, and Lemmon. While ATLAS has been gobbling up headlines courtesy of its interstellar nature (ATLAS is a visitor from another star system and the subject of all sorts of wild conspiracy theories), Lemmon is poised to put on the best show.

It was discovered Jan. 3, 2025 by astronomer David C. Fuls, using a 1.5-meter (60-inch) Cassegrain reflector telescope at Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona. At first, astronomers thought Lemmon would be relatively dim, with a maximum magnitude of approximately 10.

In astronomy, the magnitude scale refers to how bright an object is and is based on the work of ancient astronomers, who catalogued the visible stars in the night sky. They categorized the brightest stars as magnitude 1 and the dimmest as magnitude 6. A magnitude 2 star is about 2.5 times dimmer than magnitude 1, and so on. Conversely, a magnitude 0 star is about 2.5 times brighter than magnitude 1. The very brightest objects (Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, etc.) even have negative magnitudes. In short, the lower the number the better, and you can see anything brighter (lower on the scale) than a 6, given dark skies, good vision, and clear weather.


How to see Comet Lemmon

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Comet


If Lemmon topped out at magnitude 10, we probably wouldn’t be talking about it. At that magnitude, it would have been a fun target for professional and amateur astronomers, but it would have flown by unnoticed by the rest of us.

After the initial observations, Lemmon was hidden by the Sun during June and July. When it reemerged, it had gotten a lot brighter than expected. The latest observations put it about a 7 and it’s not done yet.

Lemmon is easiest to see for skywatchers in the northern hemisphere. In the first half of October, Lemmon will be most visible in the early morning before sunrise. After the 15th it will become visible in the evening sky, as well, and it will be brighter. By the end of October, some astronomers estimate it could be as bright as 2.5, well within the range of objects visible with the naked eye.

Of course, those estimates might be optimistic and, as demonstrated by the fact that Lemmon is already much brighter than expected, the magnitude of comets can be wildly unpredictable. Either way, the Moon will be in its new phase on October 21 and waxing slowly toward full through the rest of the month. That’s good news for skywatchers because the Moon’s bright reflected light (magnitude -12.6) can wash out dimmer objects just like light pollution from the city.

Assuming Lemmon gets as bright as we hope, you should be able to see it with your eyes. Otherwise, you’ll want some binoculars or a telescope. Check your local weather forecast for clear skies and get to a dark spot, as far from city light as is possible for you. Look to the western horizon, roughly in the vicinity of the Big Dipper. Be patient, and avoid looking at your phone or other bright lights, it can take about 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust before you’ll be able to see the dimmest objects. With a little luck, you’ll catch a cosmic show that only comes to town once in a millennium.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/everything-know-comet-lemmon-see-221403192.html