Now is the perfect time to catch Comet Lemmon in the evening sky
A new comet has appeared in the sky over the past few weeks, but now is the best time to see it for yourself.
Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon was discovered on January 3 by astronomer David C. Fults as part of the Mount Lemmon Survey, a near-Earth object detection program.
It made its closest pass to Earth on Tuesday, when it was visible close to the horizon. However, the comet is now slightly higher in the sky, making it a perfect time to view it.
“Comet Lemmon is at its best visibility at this time,” Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society in London, said in a release.
And if you miss it now, you’ll never see it again: it won’t return for another 1,300 years.
Look Finding Comet Lemmon from Halifax:
where and when to look
The comet can be found in the western sky as soon as it gets dark.
If you look at the Big Dipper, the first star in the handle of the “spoon” points to a bright star called Arcturus, which is part of the constellation Boots.
Comet Lemmon can be found above and to the left of the infallibly bright star.
Over the next few days, it will continue to move towards the south-western sky and remain at the same altitude.
While amateur astronomers have been providing stunning images of Comet Lemmon, don’t expect to see it. Instead, it will appear as a blurry object in the sky.
“It won’t be like Hale-Bop for people who remember it in the late 1990s or even NEOWISE in 2020, it’s going to be a little tougher to look at,” Massey said.
“But, that said, it’s a fairly bright comet when they go. The fact that you can see it easily with a telescope makes it quite unusual, and I think for that reason alone it’s worth going and enjoying, especially if you’ve never seen a comet before.”
The comet has brightened significantly over the past month and is visible with the naked eye in fairly dark locations. But people in cities are also watching it through binoculars.
Friday is a good time to see it, as the moon is only about nine percent illuminated and remains below the horizon. The Moon will continue to rise high in the sky and shine brightly as it enters the first quarter through Monday.
Comet Lemmon will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere until mid-November, but after Sunday, it will begin to dip low on the southwestern horizon.
To find the comet, you can use apps like SkySafari And Stellariumamong others.
