Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) was imaged on the morning of September 29, 2025, while sweeping across the sky from the Utah Desert Remote Observatory. Even a month before reaching perihelion, the comet displayed a striking appearance with a bright turquoise coma and a remarkably long, filamentary ion tail. Multiple gas jets, sculpted by the pressure of the solar wind, create dynamic structures that extend far into interplanetary space.

This image captures the transient beauty of a comet in motion, offering a rare glimpse into the interaction between a pristine icy body and the Sun’s influence. Technical setup: PlaneWave Delta Rho 500/1500 mm telescope with a ZWO ASI 6200MM camera and Chroma LRGB filters. The final image represents a total of 16 minutes of integration using 2×2 binning.

Gliding through the stars, Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) displays a bright cyan coma and a strikingly long, detailed ion tail in this image from September 16, 2025. The comet’s tail is shaped by the solar wind, with intricate kinks and disconnections revealing real-time interactions between the comet’s plasma and the charged particles streaming from the Sun. The vivid greenish hue of the coma comes from diatomic carbon fluorescing under sunlight.

Captured with careful tracking to follow the comet’s motion, the image reveals both the fine filamentary structure of the tail and the sharp star field beyond. The scene is a reminder that comets are dynamic travelers, changing in brightness and appearance as they approach and recede from the Sun.

Appearing razor-thin against the cosmic backdrop, NGC 5907 slices through the constellation Draco in this deep LRGB image. Also known as the Splinter Galaxy, this elegant spiral lies approximately 50 million light-years away and is seen almost perfectly edge-on. Its warped disk and faint tidal features suggest a turbulent history, an ongoing gravitational dance with a long-disrupted satellite galaxy.

Arcing delicately around NGC 5907 is a spectacular stellar stream, the ghostly remnant of that merger. Composed of stars flung out by tidal forces, this faint loop of light is rarely visible in amateur images. Capturing such a structure requires exceptional sky conditions and long integration times, making this view both scientifically valuable and visually arresting.

The Running Chicken Nebula, also known as IC 2944, is a stunning emission nebula located in the constellation Centaurus, approximately 6,500 light-years away from Earth. This nebula is notable for its bright, glowing hydrogen gas, which is ionized by the intense ultraviolet radiation from nearby young, hot stars. The region is rich in star formation, with numerous young stars and protostars embedded within the nebula. One of the most striking features of IC 2944 is the presence of Bok globules—dense, dark clouds of gas and dust that are potential sites of future star formation.

IC 2944's nickname, the Running Chicken Nebula, comes from the shape of the nebula, which some observers liken to a running chicken. The complex structure of the nebula, with its bright emission regions and dark dust lanes, makes it a favorite target for both amateur and professional astronomers. Its location in the southern sky provides a unique and spectacular view for observers in the Southern Hemisphere.

Aurora week continues! Indeed, the mesmerizing Northern Lights graced the Po Valley following a powerful solar storm this weekend. This rare event brought the captivating aurora borealis to an area not typically associated with such celestial displays, adding an extra layer of awe and wonder to the night sky above the valley.

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a celestial jewel in the southern hemisphere, graces the night sky with its ethereal presence. Nestled among the distant stars, this dwarf irregular galaxy, a satellite of our Milky Way, captivates astronomers and stargazers alike. With an approximate distance of around 200,000 light-years, the SMC unveils a tapestry of stellar marvels, from sprawling nebulae to clusters of newborn stars. Its unique position allows astronomers to study cosmic phenomena with a distinct perspective, offering insights into the evolution of galaxies and the interplay of celestial forces.

Image Description and Details :

The picture, taken on August 6th 2020 from Casalgrande (Italy), shows a large filament in the chromosphere

Telescope: Tecnosky acro 152/900mm at 3600mm of focal length Mount: Sky Watcher NEQ 6 ProCamera ZWO ASI 174MMFilter: Daystar Quark Chromosphere Average seeing and transparency conditions

Copyright: Alessandro Carrozzi