Comet Lemmon captured above Yorkshire Dales

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) was discovered by astronomers in Arizona

A photographer who captured a comet in the night sky above the Yorkshire Dales said he spent weeks waiting for the perfect moment for the shot.

Dominic Reardon, who lives in Arnside, Cumbria, travelled to Muker in North Yorkshire to photograph Comet Lemmon on 25 October.

He said he was "watching the weather forecast like a hawk" before finally getting a gap in the clouds and his chance to take his photo.

The comet, officially known as C/2025 A6, was detected in January by astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona and will not return for 1,150 years.

Mr Reardon, 29, said he took his photo of the comet by using a telephoto lens and a star tracker, which allows the camera to follow an object as it moves across the sky, in order to collect more light and image data.

He took multiple exposures over a period of two hours from 19:00 until 21:00.

"I'd been trying to find a gap in the weather for two weeks and had tried a couple of times before, but I would get fully set up – which takes a good 30-45 minutes – only to have the night ruined by clouds, rain or wind," he said.

"I had thought I wasn't going to get chance to capture it, and then finally got an opportunity. I was excited and relieved."

He used a different technique to capture the building in the foreground before blending the images together to create the final photograph.

Comet Lemmon came closest to the earth on 21 October, when it was 56 million miles (90 million km) away.

The Royal Astronomical Society said it would be closest to the sun on Tuesday and coincided with the annual Orionid meteor shower, which is likely to be visible until 7 November.

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