Last Chance Tuesday: See Comet At Its Best For 1,150 Years With Meteors

ByJamie Carter,

Senior Contributor.

The green comets visible in the night sky are now at their minimum distance from Earth, so they should be at their brightest in the night sky. Comet Lemmon (also called C/2025 A6) and Comet SWAN (C/2025 R2) are the first comets visible in binoculars since Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in October 2024. Both are visible after sunset from the Northern Hemisphere, but Tuesday, Oct. 21, is the last chance to also see Lemmon before sunrise.

Although both Lemmon and SWAN reached their brightest on Monday, Oct. 20, when they reached their closest to Earth at 55 and 24 million miles, respectively, they are likely to remain at their brightest on Tuesday, Oct. 21.

The comets are visible in the northwest (Lemmon) and southwest (SWAN) about 90 minutes after sunset. Lemmon is moving quickly across the sky west of the Big Dipper while SWAN is beneath the three bright stars that comprise the Summer Triangle.