Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon in the evening sky, as seen in the mountains of southern New Mexico.

First photo was taken in twilight, so the sky is blue. This comet is not very bright, so the faint extensions of the tail are easily washed out by twilight (or light pollution).

Second photo is a slightly wider view, taken in full night. The tail extends at least seven degrees. The sky background is mottled and banded. That's because bands of (mostly green) airglow were drifting across the sky.

The third photo shows the appearance of the second photo before I took steps to try and smooth the sky background. With contrast set high, not only was the sky covered with bands of lighter and darker sections of sky...but they were different colors as well.

The fourth photo shows where I placed sample areas across the frame so that image processing software could analyze, model, and correct the irregularities in the sky. Considering what I started with, my final result is pretty good.

#Comet #NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #Astronomy #Starlink #Satellites #Pollution #Night #iPhonePhotography #SpaceWeather #Space #Aurora #Airglow

The comet, as seen by a 'normal' camera lens on Sunday evening. (It's not a telephoto lens and it's not a wide-angle lens.)

First photo was taken in fairly bright twilight. The comet (C/2025 A6 Lemmon) is the only 'alien green' smudge near the middle of the frame.

Second photo was taken 17 minutes later near the end of twilight. (Full night would start about 5 - 10 minutes later.) A bit of tail is now visible, many more stars, and lots of @#$! satellite trails.

Third graphic is a finder chart from planetarium software. The red wire rectangle shows the sky coverage of the photos. I have also extended this finder chart more to the right to show the Big Dipper. This finder chart is for 19 October, but the comet will move only a little bit to the left every day. By the 23rd the comet will have reached the edge of the photo frame...and moved a wee bit higher.

#Comet #Astronomy #Photography #Astrophotography #iPhonePhotography

The comet, as seen by a 'normal' camera lens on Sunday evening. (It's not a telephoto lens and it's not a wide-angle lens.)

First photo was taken in fairly bright twilight. The comet (C/2025 A6 Lemmon) is the only 'alien green' smudge near the middle of the frame.

Second photo was taken 17 minutes later near the end of twilight. (Full night would start about 5 - 10 minutes later.) A bit of tail is now visible, many more stars, and lots of @#$! satellite trails.

Third graphic is a finder chart from planetarium software. The red wire rectangle shows the sky coverage of the photos. I have also extended this finder chart more to the right to show the Big Dipper. This finder chart is for 19 October, but the comet will move only a little bit to the left every day. By the 23rd the comet will have reached the edge of the photo frame...and moved a wee bit higher.

#Comet #Astronomy #Photography #Astrophotography #iPhonePhotography

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon in the evening sky, as seen in the mountains of southern New Mexico.

First photo was taken in twilight, so the sky is blue. This comet is not very bright, so the faint extensions of the tail are easily washed out by twilight (or light pollution).

Second photo is a slightly wider view, taken in full night. The tail extends at least seven degrees. The sky background is mottled and banded. That's because bands of (mostly green) airglow were drifting across the sky.

The third photo shows the appearance of the second photo before I took steps to try and smooth the sky background. With contrast set high, not only was the sky covered with bands of lighter and darker sections of sky...but they were different colors as well.

The fourth photo shows where I placed sample areas across the frame so that image processing software could analyze, model, and correct the irregularities in the sky. Considering what I started with, my final result is pretty good.

#Comet #NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #Astronomy #Starlink #Satellites #Pollution #Night #iPhonePhotography #SpaceWeather #Space #Aurora #Airglow