Would you like to see a comet or asteroid tonight?
Comets, asteroids and other Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are a fascinating sight to behold, if you can manage to spot one in the night sky.
Equipment: NikonZ6 Mod camera, Samyang 135mm lens. Comet (stacked): 60 photos (5sec, ISO 640, f2.8 ). Foreground: 5sec , Hdr
Many will remember the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in the 1990s, or much more recently, the beautiful sights of Comet NEOWISE and Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF that made headlines around the world and enticed us all to take a look up at the evening sky.
Asteroid Vesta, for example, is one member of the Asteroid Belt that can also be seen, provided you know where and when to look.
But how do you spot comets and asteroids in the night sky? Is there a comet tonight that's visible where you are?
Find out in our guide to which comets and asteroids are visible tonight and over the coming weeks.
For help understanding what our brightness indicators mean, read our guide to stellar magnitude.
If you're a complete beginner, get started with our guide to astronomy for beginners.
September 2025
Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś)
Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is set to be a slow burner throughout autumn 2025, rising from a dim 13th magnitude at the start of September to possibly mag. +5 at the start of 2026.
Sadly, at its brightest it will be in southern Sagittarius, too low and too close to the Sun to be seen properly from the UK.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the show until mid-November, by which time the comet will hopefully be approaching eighth magnitude.
This is a hyperbolic comet inbound from the Oort cloud.
It was discovered in March 2024 by the Polish astronomer Kacper Wierzchoś during a routine survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona.
It was captured by an f/1.6, 1.5-metre Cassegrain telescope using a 111.5MP CCD camera, when it was around 20th magnitude.
Its perihelion will be 20 January 2026, when it will swing past the Sun at a distance of 0.5656 AU (84.6 million kilometres).
On 1 September, at an estimated mag. +13.1, C/2024 E1 will be 10° north of mag. +4.1 Epsilon (ε) Coronae Borealis.
It passes just east of it on 22 September, having increased to around mag. +12.5. It continues southward, passing west of mag. +3.7 Gamma (γ) Herculis on the evening of 8 October, when it will have brightened to mag. +11.9.
For added interest, slightly brighter comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) will be shining around mag. +10 in late October, passing south of Corona Borealis.
The two comets end October around 8° apart.
Send us your comet images by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com.
