ISS astronauts photograph two comets soaring over Earth’s auroras
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has captured the imagination of amateur and professional skywatchers, but it’s not the only icy space rock to have recently passed Earth. In October, two comets known as Lemmon and SWAN also left trails of dust and gas as they continued their vast orbits across the solar system. Luckily, their timing aligned perfectly with a wave of vibrant auroras generated by one of this year’s largest solar flares. And judging by photos recently released by NASA, few people had a better vantage point than the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Both comets are relatively recent discoveries. Lemmon was first confirmed by the Mount Lemmon Survey in January, while SWAN was only spotted by Vladimir Bezugly in September. Based on current data, Lemmon is one of several icy rocks originating from the Oort Cloud that surrounds the sun at a distance of 0.03 to 3.2 light years. SWAN probably came from somewhere even further away.
However, as stunning as the images from the ISS are, they are also among the last we will see for some time. Lemmon is not expected to return until around 3175, while SWAN is not expected to return until 22,554 years ago.
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