As Comet Lemmon brightened while swooping through the Sun's neighborhood in late 2025, images recorded by NASA's PUNCH mission revealed rare views of how solar forces shape a comet moments before it is pulled apart. From orbit around Earth, the mission witnessed as the comet traversed its vast field of view, providing a moving waypost of solar wind activity. More solar activity on November 1 and November 4, stronger solar activity appeared to disrupt the tail, which later regrew as conditions settled. PUNCH Tracks Comet Lemmon as Solar Wind Actively Reshapes Its Fading TailPUNCH's four small spacecraft continuously observe the region where the Sun's outer atmosphere transitions into the solar wind. Though still visible in PUNCH data, Comet Lemmon is fading and is expected to leave the spacecraft's view by mid-January 2026.

Source: Punch December 21, 2025 15:09 UTC