Published On 20/10/2025
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Last update: 12:04 (Mecca time)
In October 2025, the night sky holds a beautiful surprise for observational enthusiasts. Comet C/2025A6, or simply comet Lemon, is currently passing by Earth, where you can see it with a telescope and binoculars, and perhaps even with the naked eye if sufficiently dark conditions are available.
On January 3, 2025, it was observed by astronomer David Volz during the Mount Lemmon Survey Program in the US state of Arizona.
It seemed at first A faint body Its apparent magnitude does not exceed +21, that is, a faint point that can barely be captured by digital cameras dedicated to monitoring near-Earth objects.
However, follow-up images quickly revealed the presence of a dusty envelope surrounding it, making it clear that it was not just an asteroid, but an active comet that released gases and dust as it approached the heat of the sun.
Old guest
Orbital calculations show that “Lemon” is coming from very deep in the solar system, perhaps from the Oort Cloud, the massive cosmic reservoir of comets that lies in the background of the solar system.
Its orbit is like a very elongated ellipse, with a return time exceeding a thousand years, which means that this visit is unique for our current generation.
The comet will approach the Sun to a distance of approximately half an astronomical unit (i.e. a little closer than Earth’s orbit) on November 8, 2025, after it passes close to Earth on October 21, which is its closest point to Earth and the best opportunity to observe it.
The comet’s brightness in late September was about magnitude 5.9-6 (close to the naked eye limit in a dark sky, easier with binoculars), with a beautiful dust tail in images.
The green color seen in the images is caused by the glow of diatomic carbon and other gases when they are illuminated and excited near the sun.
How do I see it?
This comet appears in the sky in the evening immediately after sunset during the month of October 2025, in the southern side to the southwest of the horizon.
Starting on October 18, the comet set off from the vicinity of the star “Charles Heart” in the Seleucid constellation, towards the Howling constellation, where it is currently crossing approximately in the middle of it, which is the best place to observe the comet with binoculars and telescopes, as well as to take pictures.
In this case, the luminosity of the comet will decrease to approximately 5.5, which will also make it easier to see it with the naked eyes, in a dark sky (for example, the desert or outside the city in general). In this case, the comet will appear as a very faint cloud.
After that, the comet heads towards the constellation of the Serpent, when we reach October 26, and then passes to the constellation Ophiuchus.
Earth guests
The matter does not stop at Lemon only, as the Earth hosts – at a safe distance – a group of comets that will pass close to it in less than a year from now. platform “Earth Sky” is a group of them:
- Comet C/2025K1 (Atlas), will be closest to Earth on November 24-25, 2025.
- Comet 3I/Atlas, the third extrasolar object, will be closest to Earth on December 18-19, 2025.
- Comet 24P/Chanemas will be closest to Earth on January 4, 2026.
- Comet C/2024E1 (Werzkus) will be closest to Earth on February 17, 2026.
Some of these comets will be at a point where they can be seen through simple to medium telescopes, and some will be farther away and require specialized astronomical observatories. Scientists are working to study these objects, because they represent pure fossils that provide features of the ancient history of the solar system.