Sky watchers around the world are turning their eyes upward to enjoy a new comet — C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) — which is crossing the heavens and has caused a wave of excitement among astronomy enthusiasts.
This comet was discovered in early 2025 by the Mount Lemmon Survey (MLS) observatory, and tomorrow, October 21, according to experts, will be the day for sky lovers to enjoy it, as it will be at its closest distance to Earth — specifically 89 million kilometers away. Under ideal weather conditions and in areas without light pollution, it will be visible to the naked eye.
“It’s yet another comet. Unfortunately, its perigee — its closest point to Earth — is still quite far. We’re observing and photographing it,” said astrophotographer Konstantinos Emmanouilidis to protothema.gr, adding that C/2025 A6 “is absolutely spectacular through a telescope.”
At the moment, the comet is not visible to the naked eye due to its great distance from Earth and cloudy skies, but it is a “feast for the eyes” for those who own telescopes. It has unique features, and every night observers watch it disintegrate and break apart, leaving fragments behind in its celestial path.
“Especially if someone photographs it through a telescope — which offers greater light-gathering capacity and resolution — they will see that it’s impressive. The comet is breaking up, and we can observe pieces detaching from it each night. All of this can be seen through a telescope, as long as there are no clouds, because lately, the cloud cover has been relentless,” he said.
“It has the gift of being visible both at sunrise and sunset”
In photographs, the comet displays a bright green coma and a long ion tail, and Mr. Emmanouilidis plans to capture it again through his telescopes this coming weekend. He also recommends spots for observing comet C/2025 A6 — either from Mount Paiko or Ano Vrontou in Serres.
“In Northern Greece, those who wish to see it could go to Mount Paiko, or Ano Vrontou in Serres. Possibly, with some uncertainty, also around the Doirani Lake near Kilkis or Lake Kerkini, but those locations might not offer a clear view,” he noted.
Where in the vast sky is comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) passing?
“At the moment, below the North Star (Polaris) moves the Big Dipper (Ursa Major), and below that is the comet, which has the special quality of being visible both shortly after sunset and again very early in the morning at sunrise.”
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