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Credit & Copyright: Lin Zixuan
(Tsinghua U.)
Explanation:
What did Comet Lemmon look like when it was at its best?
One example is pictured here, featuring three celestial spectacles all at different
distances.
The closest spectacle is the snowcapped
Meili Mountains, part of the
Himalayas in
China.
The middle
marvel is Comet Lemmon near its
picturesque best early this month,
showing not only a white
dust tail trailing off to the right but its blue solar wind-distorted
ion tail trailing off to the left.
Far in the distance on the left is the magnificent central plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy, featuring
dark dust,
red nebula, and including billions of
Sun-like stars.
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is already fading as it heads back into the outer Solar
System, while the
Himalayan mountains will gradually
erode over the next billion years.
The Milky Way Galaxy,
though, will live on -- forming
new mountains and comets --
for many billions of years into the future.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet
Publications with words: comet
See also:
- APOD: 2026 May 12 Á The Conjunction of Comet R3 PanSTARRS and the Orion Nebula
- APOD: 2026 May 8 Á Comet R3 PanSTARRS Before Rigel
- APOD: 2026 April 20 Á Comet R3 PanSTARRS over a Himalayan Valley
- APOD: 2026 April 18 Á PanSTARRS and Planets
- APOD: 2026 April 14 Á The Long Wispy Tail of Comet R3 (PanSTARRS)
- APOD: 2026 April 12 Á Comet R3 PanSTARRS Brightens
- APOD: 2026 February 17 Á Tails of Comet Wierzchoå