Days before its closest approach to Earth in more than 1,000 years, the super-bright comet C/2025 A6 (Lemon) was photographed over the Scottish Highlands, appearing to fly through a swirl of Technicolor auroras that suddenly exploded into the night sky.
Photographer Alan Tough captured this stunning shot early Saturday morning (October 18) from his backyard near the town of Elgin in north-east Scotland. According to Spaceweather.com, which first shared the photo, he had originally planned to photograph the comet alone when the aurora suddenly erupted.
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A wide range of aurora colors were observed within the aurora arc, from typical colors such as green and red to unusual colors such as orange and pink that only appear under certain conditions.
When the image was taken, this bright comet was more than 230 times farther from Earth than the Moon.
Comet Lemmon was discovered on January 3 by researchers at the Mount Lemmon Sky Center Observatory in Arizona’s Santa Catalina Mountains. It is a non-periodic comet, orbiting the sun probably every 1,350 years.
Comet Lemon will make its closest approach to Earth today (October 21), coming within 56 million miles (90 million kilometers) of Earth, and is scheduled to reach its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, on November 8.
Lemon has become much brighter in recent weeks as the surrounding cloud of gas, ice and dust, known as the coma, has expanded as it moves closer to the sun. Its current apparent magnitude is 4, making it clearly visible to the naked eye.
The comet also has a significant tail, and Lemon is frequently influenced by the solar wind as it passes through the inner solar system.
People in the Northern Hemisphere can see the comet in the northwest sky just after sunset, directly below the Big Dipper. It’s visible to the naked eye, but the best views are obtained with a proper backyard telescope or stargazing binoculars. Check out our Comet Photography Guide to take the best photos of lemons.
Another bright comet, named SWAN, also made its closest approach to Earth on Monday (October 20) and is currently observable in the night sky not far from Lemmon. However, SWAN cannot be seen with the naked eye and can only be seen using stargazers.
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