NASA's PUNCH mission snaps record-setting pics of comet 2025 R2 (SWAN)
NASA's PUNCH spacecraft just made comet history, taking images of Comet 2025 R2 (SWAN) every four minutes between August and October.
This gave scientists an up-close look at how the comet interacts with solar wind—pretty cool for space science fans!
From discovery to sudden glow-up
Ukrainian amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly first spotted the comet on September 11 using SOHO's SWAN instrument, but PUNCH had already caught it back on August 7.
The comet quickly brightened from magnitude 11 to a much easier-to-spot magnitude 6 by late October, which is typically visible even with basic binoculars.
That wild tail and what happened next
Solar wind pushed the comet's tail away from the Sun, making it look like it was moving backward.
In early November, scientists noticed signs that the comet might have started breaking apart.