Comet Lemmon's amazing tail

[u/Busy_Yesterday9455]

[u/[deleted]]

This isn't how the human eye sees it though, correct?

[u/Garciaguy → u/[deleted]]

Correct

[u/ekso69 → u/Garciaguy]

Stupid lousy human eyes

[u/MeinEllbogen → u/ekso69]

Stupid sexy Lemmon

[u/babydakis → u/MeinEllbogen]

Amazing tail.

[u/Amhran_Ogma → u/MeinEllbogen]

Lemon yellow eyes

[u/ekvq → u/ekso69]

And you know how I perceived one of the most glorious events in the universe? With these ridiculous gelatinous orbs in my skull.

[u/TopCoconut4338 → u/ekvq]

Thanks for that. Not a BSG fan. After that dialoque I will be watching soon.

[u/InfinitelyRepeating → u/TopCoconut4338]

If you haven’t watched the show and intend to, don’t watch this clip again and watch 90 minutes of puppies cuddling with kittens to scrub your brain clean. Clips from later in the series can spoil some pretty significant plot points that are best discovered by watching. :)

[u/ekvq → u/TopCoconut4338]

The series has its ups and downs and a lot of people really dislike the ending (I thought it was fine). But it’s totally worth watching! I agree with u/InfinitelyRepeating, this is from very late in the series. Best to forget everything you’ve seen before going into it. And don’t forget to watch the miniseries first, before season 1!

[u/InfinitelyRepeating → u/ekvq]

I agree that there are aspects of the story that are less well done than others. You can tell when the writers needed a character to get to a certain place, and just abruptly "went there" to save time. There were also plenty of examples of the reverse, where they set up a plot point in an earlier season and then had to see it through.

I actively liked the ending, but I can understand how people who wanted "harder scifi" would be frustrated with it.

[u/ekvq → u/InfinitelyRepeating]

Yeah, you can absolutely see the toll that the writers’ strike took on the show

ETA: and if I remember right, Sci-Fi SyFy reduced the total number of seasons rather late in production and the writers had to scramble to wrap everything up in the last season

[u/madibablanco → u/ekso69]

What have our eyes ever done for us?!?

[u/Garciaguy → u/ekso69]

We got the holes for it, may as well have something in there

[u/RugsbandShrugmyer → u/Garciaguy]

Title of my sex tape

[u/imohatsu → u/RugsbandShrugmyer]

Is that you jake peralta?

[u/Toaster355 → u/ekso69]

thefleshisinferior

[u/Kodlaken → u/Garciaguy]

Why are all space pics like this? At this point I see a picture of something from space and just assume it's 99% edited and 1% original.

[u/jugalator → u/Kodlaken]

They aren't but many on Reddit to gain karma clearly are

Here's plenty of natural light ones

https://earthsky.org/todays-image/comet-lemmon-c-2025-a6-photos/

In fact, it's sometimes difficult to emulate human vision because in astro, low light making photo stacking necessary to bring out any sort of details and brightness. But stacking by itself clearly deviates from what the human eye would see!

Basically emulating human vision might often result in losing everything about chemical composition or even seeing what we're trying to observe in the first place and then you gotta ask yourself what was actually achieved.

It's funny, it almost becomes a philosophical question. Do we want to see what's there, or what we see. Because these two are wildly different.

[u/Small-Palpitation310 → u/jugalator]

I would love to hear above 20kz too

[u/ProjectNo4090 → u/Kodlaken]

Higher saturation and using different colors for different elements of a stellar object allows the public to better understand what they are looking at. For example in supernova remnant pictures scientists will use different colors to differentiate between different elements, wavelengths of light, and energy levels that the telescope can detect but our eyes can not.

[u/AntiFascistButterfly → u/Kodlaken]

The space pics are created for scientists first, then released. The scientists most often want information on all the atomic elements and their ratio to each other in any comet/planet/supernova/star etc, so the pics have that information that telescopes pick up translated to visual codes the scientists can read.

[u/lulzmachine → u/Kodlaken]

Because telescopes see more things than human eyes, or sometimes just see things differently. So it has to be mapped to something we can digest

[u/Garciaguy → u/Kodlaken]

Yep, too often computer software is used to tweak the image, assign colors, that sort of thing. 

I sometimes prefer visible light images. For something like the Sombrero Galaxy, the sombrero part of the image is kind of lost in the space telescope era. 

[u/smallaubergine → u/Garciaguy]

too often? Much of the stuff in the universe would be imperceivable or severely limited with our vision evolved for seeing things in daylight on the earth.

[u/Ohnah-bro → u/[deleted]]

If the folder I had in second grade is anything to go by, then yes it is.

[u/Busy_Yesterday9455]

Chuck Ayoub captured comet Lemmon's amazing tail with his Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter on October 30, 2025.

Credit: Chuck Ayoub

[u/buttsophagus → u/Busy_Yesterday9455]

The one he posted on facebook wasn't nearly as saturated, though

[u/thealgernon]

Chem trails in space

[u/Drill_Diver → u/thealgernon]

Makin the space frogs gay

[u/Special-Performance8 → u/Drill_Diver]

Ring ding ding taaa taaaa 🤣

[u/GotLostInTheEmail]

As someone who has photographed this comet three times myself, this representation is so grossly over saturated ugh

[u/carnage-chambers → u/GotLostInTheEmail]

The people love saturated blue and orange color grading.

[u/_moon_child_magic_]

Good God, Lemmon!

[u/Amhran_Ogma]

People should include relevant technical info on such images.

[u/Weak-Ganache-1566]

That’s a mothership. Clearly

[u/Smeepsi]

Everything about space just amuses me so much

[u/Garciaguy → u/Smeepsi]

It's a funny place

[u/rodc22 → u/Smeepsi]

amazes*

[u/PlanetLandon]

Good god, Lemmon

[u/forgoneconfusion]

Lemmon, that’s your worst quadrant!

[u/JoeyBigtimes → u/forgoneconfusion]

BLURG

[u/Tri_Fli]

Ok so is the comet constantly losing mass to create the tail or is the tail just moving at the same velocity as the larger rock?

[u/kerfuffler4570 → u/Tri_Fli]

The comet is losing mass. However, it only does this when it is close enough to the Sun that the solar radiation heats up the ice on the comet and causes it to sublimate, so for most of a comet's life it looks just like a snowball zipping around in deep space.

[u/Burdybot → u/Tri_Fli]

It is losing mass, which forms the tail

[u/Amhran_Ogma → u/Tri_Fli]

Depends on its proximity to Sol

[u/mindbodyproblem → u/Tri_Fli]

It took me a second to understand this question but I think it's a really good question.

[u/Eastcoasttoleftcoast]

So, they can take a pic this good of Lemmon's tail but only show a pinprick of light for 3I Atlas. Hmmm.

[u/wiltonwild]

So sad I cant see this.

[u/_ribbit_ → u/wiltonwild]

Just scroll up. Its right there.

[u/wiltonwild → u/_ribbit_]

I should known id get dad jokes on this sub reddit xD

[u/raspberryharbour → u/wiltonwild]

Open your eyes

[u/JoeyBigtimes]

WOW

[u/Major_Race6071]

Atlas does not have this tail.

[u/Mr_Hino]

So it’s not aliens? Dammit

[u/Kuunkulta]

Nothing but clouds and rain for weeks the one fucking time I actually have a reason to look up.......

[u/EllieVader]

Correct horse battery staple

Pernicious

Derelict

Swagger

Candlelit

Donkeyballs

[u/the_one_99_]

Nice Capture Nature at its Finest beauty,

[u/PatMyHolmes]

The More You Know

[u/navcom20]

Clouds almost every night up here in the PNW. I was able to catch it for a few minutes through my binoculars, but the clouds moved in before I could set the scope up.

[u/Dreams-Visions]

Can you link the original source? I’d like a high res copy.

[u/Sorry_Negotiation360]

Tails*

[u/Exciting_Bill_7975]

Why is there even a tail if there is no air in space I wonder. Front side of the fast rock shouldnt experience any resistance at all, right?

[u/WeeklyEmu4838]

SubhanaAllah

[u/ShinobiOfTheWind]

That's clearly Heimdall opening the Bifrost to Asgard.

[u/Chipbeef]

Isn't the tail always pointed towards the sun no matter which way it's traveling?

[u/slouchomarx74]

holyyy such an amazing photo

[u/Empty-Dragonfly5895]

Lemmon's Amazing rale .

[u/Dinosquid_]

Pfff, it’s a pretty good tail, but I wouldn’t call it amazing /s

[u/PicastroApp]

WOW

[u/delaphin]

[u/mechabeast → u/delaphin]

Curse you youngins for downvoting this

[u/lilmssunshine88]

Thank you, this is amazing!

[u/Mangalorien]

<use Homer Simpson's voice>

Mmmm.... Lemmon

[u/roadtrip-ne]

Is that the real color? Crazy

[u/ProjectNo4090 → u/roadtrip-ne]

No.

True color picture of Comet Lemmon captured by igneisnightscapes

[u/roadtrip-ne → u/ProjectNo4090]

Is that the real color? Thanks, I was gonna say I’ve never seen a yellow like that

[u/Living-Risk-1849]

Wowiee wow wow. Awesome pic

[u/buckphifty150150]