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Green Comet Lemmon Briefly Visible Over Bengaluru

The comet’s emerald glow comes from diatomic carbon fluorescing in sunlight.

Overview

  • The faint green coma and a short, nearly colorless dust tail were visible for only a few minutes before the comet set below the western skyline on Saturday.
  • Astrophotographer Deepak Choudhary documented the sighting from a Bengaluru rooftop using a William Optics Zenithstar 61 refractor and a ZWO ASI533MC camera.
  • Residents shared photos and reactions on social media, confirming the brief city-level view despite heavy light pollution.
  • Scientists attribute the green hue to fluorescence from diatomic carbon in the coma, which breaks apart quickly and leaves the tail mostly colorless.
  • Discovered in January by the Mount Lemmon Observatory, the long-period comet remains observable with binoculars from dark sites as its brightness varies with outgassing and it nears a Nov. 8 perihelion.