Public Observing in the Blackstone Heritage Corridor
Date: Friday, October 24, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Eastern
Skyscrapers, Inc. Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island
River Bend Farm
Friday, October 24, 2025
Event Report
Comments and anecdotes about the event:
Friday, October 24, 2025 Weather: Partly Cloudy, 50° Participants: Francine Jackson, John Kocur, Jim Hendrickson Attendees: 12 Observed: Saturn, Epsilon Lyrae, C/2025 A6, C/2025 R2, Saturn, M31 Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCA3sR Report by Jim Hendrickson Night of two comets, October 24, 2025 Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park (River Bend Farm) in Uxbridge, MA After a cloudy Friday, skies cleared just enough before sunset for us to conduct our monthly River Bend astronomy night, but the clouds didn’t stay away for long. Originally scheduled as one of our dark sky nights, with no Moon visible, we were treated this month by the presence of two accessible comets. The visitor center hosted its Bat Week event in coordination with our night sky event. Participants made bat-related crafts in the barn, followed by a guided hike, but unfortunately they did report any bat sightings. About a dozen guests visited the telescope field, including several that returned from the hike just as the sky was dark enough to observe. Our regular friends Ruth and Marc Gravel also visited, sharing with us a late-season harvest of tomatoes from their garden. John Kocur brought his 8-inch reflector, Jim Hendrickson set up an 80mm refractor and Seestar S50, and Francine had her Astroscan reflector. One of the guests brought a pair of 80mm binoculars. Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon in Serpens, was about 14° east of the bright star Arcturus. The 80mm refractor showed a bright coma with a distinct tail. Estimated to be around magnitude 4, it was 0.613 au from Earth, moving at a Sun-relative velocity of 54 km/s, at a distance of 0.638 au from the Sun. The image produced with the Seestar showed a broad tail stretching across the entire frame. Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, at a distance of 0.289 au, was much fainter, moving eastward through Aquarius at a rate of 3.6° per day. With a tight green coma, its rapid movement through the sky showed a distinct trailed image in the Seestar. It was moving through the inner solar system at a Sun-relative velocity of 41 km/s. As the sky darkened and Comet Lemmon got lower in the sky, clouds began to overtake everything except in the far north and south, and bit overhead. As the clear spots shifted, we had a little additional time to observe epsilon Lyrae, Saturn, the Double Cluster, and M31. Sky conditions continued to improve as we were packing up at 8:00pm. Comet images captured with a Seestar S50 telescope.
Friday, October 24, 2025 Weather: Partly Cloudy, 50° Participants: Francine Jackson, John Kocur, Jim Hendrickson Attendees: 12 Observed: Saturn, Epsilon Lyrae, C/2025 A6, C/2025 R2, Saturn, M31 Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCA3sR Report by Jim Hendrickson Night of two comets, October 24, 2025 Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park (River Bend Farm) in Uxbridge, MA After a cloudy Friday, skies cleared just enough before sunset for us to conduct our monthly River Bend astronomy night, but the clouds didn’t stay away for long. Originally scheduled as one of our dark sky nights, with no Moon visible, we were treated this month by the presence of two accessible comets. The visitor center hosted its Bat Week event in coordination with our night sky event. Participants made bat-related crafts in the barn, followed by a guided hike, but unfortunately they did report any bat sightings. About a dozen guests visited the telescope field, including several that returned from the hike just as the sky was dark enough to observe. Our regular friends Ruth and Marc Gravel also visited, sharing with us a late-season harvest of tomatoes from their garden. John Kocur brought his 8-inch reflector, Jim Hendrickson set up an 80mm refractor and Seestar S50, and Francine had her Astroscan reflector. One of the guests brought a pair of 80mm binoculars. Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon in Serpens, was about 14° east of the bright star Arcturus. The 80mm refractor showed a bright coma with a distinct tail. Estimated to be around magnitude 4, it was 0.613 au from Earth, moving at a Sun-relative velocity of 54 km/s, at a distance of 0.638 au from the Sun. The image produced with the Seestar showed a broad tail stretching across the entire frame. Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, at a distance of 0.289 au, was much fainter, moving eastward through Aquarius at a rate of 3.6° per day. With a tight green coma, its rapid movement through the sky showed a distinct trailed image in the Seestar. It was moving through the inner solar system at a Sun-relative velocity of 41 km/s. As the sky darkened and Comet Lemmon got lower in the sky, clouds began to overtake everything except in the far north and south, and bit overhead. As the clear spots shifted, we had a little additional time to observe epsilon Lyrae, Saturn, the Double Cluster, and M31. Sky conditions continued to improve as we were packing up at 8:00pm. Comet images captured with a Seestar S50 telescope.
Photo by Jim Hendrickson.
John Kocur with 8-inch reflector.