Here’s a breakdown of the comets mentioned in the text, adn the timeframe they were/are visible:
* 3I/ATLAS (2025): An interstellar comet that passed by Earth in 2025, reaching its closest point in December. It is now moving away and will soon be unobservable. It was the subject of some unfounded rumors about being an alien spaceship.
* 12P/Pons-Brooks (“devil comet”): Passed by recently (no specific date given, but implied to be before 2025).
* Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: Passed by in 2024.
* Comet Lemmon: Was superbright and flew through auroras over Scotland (no specific date given, but implied to be before 2025).
* Comet SWAN: Simultaneously lit up the skies with Comet Lemmon last year (implying 2024).
* C/2025 R3: Predicted to be a perhaps luminous comet in 2026, possibly earning the title of “Great Comet.”
