24/10/2025
~ C 2025/A6 ~
The buzz in the community had been building for weeks. Two , and Lemmon, would grace the evening sky together toward the end of October. Their images had already begun flooding astronomy forums, and Iād been eager to spot them myself. But life had other plansāour exhibition kept me occupied until mid-month.
Finally, on October 20, while returning from an assignment, Ivy and I scanned the horizon. The Big Dipper shimmered clearly, but Lemmon remained hidden behind haze and low clouds. We returned home, discussing the next location we could hit in the coming days. That night, as Puneet and I chatted about his night-sky adventure in Son Beel, he casually checked his weather app. āClear skies in tomorrow,ā he said. That was enough. We decided on an impromptu trip to , perfectly timed with 's closest approach to Earth.
We reached past twilight, as darkness fell. Within a minute of scanning the northwest horizon, there it wasāa faint, glowing visitor from the outer reaches of the solar system. Not as bright as the images from abroad, but unmistakably beautiful. We wasted no time ā tripods, cameras, focus, the shutter clicking. The passing headlights from the nearby highway ruined a few frames, yet we managed to capture its ethereal glow amid faint clouds and haze.
Two nights later, on October 23, I was accompanied by my student Anshul when we found Lemmon again from Guwahatiās outskirts ā much dimmer now, visible through binoculars or telescopes. Hovering above Arcturus in the Bootes constellation, itās fading fast. For those who wish to see it, the time is now, before this celestial wanderer disappears into the dark.
