How to See Comet Lemmon and the Orionids Meteor Shower Peak

How to catch a rare comet and meteor shower

TO And Falk edited by Clara Moskowitz

The comet, discovered earlier this year and now bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, could be one of the top celestial events of 2025. Known as C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), this comet heavenly wanderer is currently in the western sky after sunset, close to the Big Dipper, and its location is convenient for viewing as the sky darkens.

Astronomers discovered the comet in January as part of Exploring Mount Lemmon in Arizona and estimate that it's in a 1,350-year orbit around the Sun, so if you miss it this time, you're out of luck.

Comet Lemmon will make its closest approach to Earth on October 21, when it will pass within 55 million miles (89 million kilometers) of our planet. Conveniently, this is also the date of the new moon, which means there will be a lack of moonlight in the sky, making it easier to see fainter objects. Coincidentally, Orionid meteor shower The comet also peaks on the night of October 21, so lucky skywatchers may see a few shooting stars while looking at the comet.

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The comet is expected to be brightest from around this date until early November. It will be closest to the Sun (a point known as perihelion) on November 8th.

“From the city, you probably won't be able to see it with the naked eye, but with binoculars you can see it,” says Bob King, contributing editor for Sky & Telescope. “From the village, when the moon is not in the sky, you can see it. [with the] with the naked eye. “It will be a bit of a blur, and the view through binoculars should be really beautiful.”

Even those who are not very familiar with the constellations will be able to use Ursa Major, as well as the bright star Arcturus – the brightest star in the western sky at this time of year – to find the comet. Currently, the wanderer is below the “handle” of the Bucket, and at the end of October he will be above Arcturus, to the left of the Bucket. Because the comet will be fairly low in the sky, the best time to view it is shortly after dusk, with the best viewing point occurring about an hour after sunset. Binoculars may be required to view the comet's thin tail, which is formed as high-speed particles from the Sun push gas and dust away from the comet's nucleus.

While viewing from rural areas is ideal, people who can't leave the city shouldn't be deterred, says Debra Ceravolo, an astrophotographer who photographs skies in southern British Columbia. “At the very least, find a dark corner of the backyard that is protected from street lights,” she says. “Binoculars will definitely help.”

Skywatchers should also know that what they see with their own eyes can never compare to the stunning photographs taken by expert astrophotographers, who typically use a mechanism called a clock drive to compensate for the Earth's rotation and processing techniques such as image overlay to make celestial objects brighter. Despite this, people shooting using only your smartphone They can still get good results, especially if they can mount their phone on a tripod, King says. “Today's smartphone cameras can take long exposures, say three to 10 seconds. That should be enough to capture the frame.”

Comets are notoriously unpredictable, and while Comet Lemmon is expected to brighten in the second half of October, it almost certainly won't compete with comets like Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake that lit up the skies in the 1990s. Regardless, it's worth a look, Ceravolo says. “I love comets,” she says. “So when there’s something good, I’m there.”

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