ToplineTwo green comets will reach their minimum distance from Earth, likely peaking in brightness, after sunset on Monday, Oct. 20, just hours before the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower, itself the product of the famous Halley’s comet. Comet Lemmon (also called C/2025 A6) and Comet SWAN (C/2025 R2) get closest to Earth early this week at 55 and 24 million miles from Earth, respectively, and could be visible to the naked eye. Ditto the 20-or-so “shooting stars” from the meteor shower. The rare sky show will unfold under a new moon, ensuring dark skies worldwide. Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) as imaged using a Seestar S30 smart telescope from New Brunswick, Canada, by Stéphane Picard at Cliff Valley Astronomy, on Oct. 4, 2025.Stéphane Picard, Cliff Valley Astronomy (used with permission)Key FactsThe comets are visible in the northwest (Lemmon) and southwest (SWAN) about 90 minutes after sunset. SWAN will be visible beneath the Summer Triangle stars while Lemmon will move more quickly across the sky beneath the Big Dipper.The easiest way to find the comets in the night sky is to use the finder charts at In-The-Sky.com or stargazing apps such as Sky Guide, Stellarium and SkySafari. With Comet Lemmon shining at magnitude +4.9 and Comet SWAN a little dimmer at magnitude +5.9, those in a Dark Sky Place or somewhere that looks dark on a light pollution map may be able to see them with the naked eye. However, it’s very likely that 8×42 or 10×50 binoculars will be… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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