1 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: NASA
This busy night time panorama was photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members from the International Space Station on Dec. 26, 2011.
2 of 34
Christmas Comet Lovejoy at Paranal
Credit: G. Brammer/ESO
This photo comes from a time-lapse sequence taken by Gabriel Brammer from ESO just two days ago on 22 December 2011. Gabriel was finishing his night shift as support astronomer at the Paranal Observatory when the comet rose over the horizon just before dawn.
3 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: Dan Burbank
Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
4 of 34
Christmas Comet Lovejoy
Credit: G. Blanchard(eso.org/~gblancha)/ESO
European Southern Observatory optician Guillaume Blanchard captured this marvellous wide-angle photo of Comet Lovejoy on 22 December 2011 as it appeared over Paranal Observatory in Chile.
5 of 34
Comet Lovejoy From Space Station
Credit: NASA
International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy from about 240 miles above the Earth’s horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011.
6 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Over Santiago de Chile
Credit: Y. Beletski/ESO
This beautiful dawn photo of Comet Lovejoy over Santiago de Chile was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Yuri Beletsky on 22 December 2011 at 05:00 in the morning.
7 of 34
Comet Lovejoy's Death-Defying Sun Dive
Credit: NASA/SOHO
Comet Lovejoy skimmed across the Sun's edge about 140,000 km above the surface late Dec. 15 and early Dec. 16, 2011, furiously brightening and vaporizing as it approached the Sun. This images shows the comet during that time as seen by the SOHO spacecraft.
8 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Starts Sun Dive
Credit: NASA/SDO
Comet Lovejoy skimmed across the Sun's edge about 140,000 km above the surface late Dec. 15, 2011, furiously vaporizing as it approached the stellar surface and later emerged from the other side. On approach (above), the comet's tail waggled as it interacted with the magnetic field of the Sun's atmosphere.
9 of 34
Comet Lovejoy From Space Station 3
Credit: NASA
Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
10 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Survives Sun Dive
Credit: NASA/SDO
Comet Lovejoy skimmed across the Sun's edge about 140,000 km above the surface late Dec. 15, 2011, furiously vaporizing as it approached the stellar surface and later emerged from the other side. This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the comet after the encounter.
11 of 34
Comet Lovejoy From Space Station 2
Credit: NASA
Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
12 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: Dan Burbank
Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
13 of 34
Head and Tail of Comet Lovejoy After It Survived the Sun
Credit: NRL/SOHO/LASCO
Comet Lovejoy emerged from behind the sun, as seen by the tail and head marked in this SOHO image on Dec. 16, 2011.
14 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: Dan Burbank
Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
15 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Dives into the Sun as Seen by SOHO
Credit: SOHO
Comet Lovejoy hurtled towards the sun on December 15, 2011, as seen by the SOHO spacecraft.
16 of 34
Comet Lovejoy's Tail Near the Sun
Credit: NASA/SDO
This image, taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows Comet Lovejoy diving through the sun's atmosphere on Dec. 15, 2011. Lovejoy's tail is visible as a faint diagonal smudge to the left of the sun, toward the bottom of the image. The tail points from lower left to upper right.
17 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Image by NRL/SOHO/LASCO
Credit: NRL/SOHO/LASCO
omet Lovejoy in SOHO/LASCO C3
18 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Nears the Sun
Credit: SOHO/LASCO (ESA/NASA)
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft, shows Comet Lovejoy just 90 minutes or so before its closest approach to the sun on Dec. 15, 2011.
19 of 34
SDO and Comet Lovejoy, December 15, 2011
Credit: NASA/SDO
SoHo and STEREO spacecraft continue to watch Comet Lovejoy as it moves closer to the Sun and brightens. This still shows the comet headed towards the Sun, December 15, 2011.
20 of 34
Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy
Credit: STEREO/SECCHI NRL
Observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft show the sungrazing comet Lovejoy as it approaches the sun in December 2011.
21 of 34
Comet Lovejoy in SOHO Satellite's Sights
Credit: SOHO/LASCO (ESA/NASA)
Comet Lovejoy is the bright streak at the bottom of this image, taken by SOHO’s Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) C3 instrument. SOHO's LASCO instrument is a coronagraph. It blocks out the light from the Sun's disc, creating an artificial eclipse. With the central glare removed, fainter objects closer to the Sun can be seen clearly by the instrument at 0830 GMT Dec. 15, 2011
22 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: NASA
This infrared image, photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member aboard the International Space Station in Earth orbit on Dec. 25, 2011, features Comet Lovejoy in a star-filled sky.
23 of 34
Comet Lovejoy's Sun Dive: Model
Credit: NASA/SDO
Scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory mission constructed this model of the sun (yellow sphere) to illustrate the path of comet Lovejoy, C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), during its plunge through the sun's corona on Dec. 15, 2011. The comet's path as seen from Earth is shown as the blue wire, with arrows noting the direction of travel.
24 of 34
Comet Lovejoy From Space
Credit: NASA
This infrared image features Comet Lovejoy and was photographed about 240 miles above Earth from the International Space Station.
25 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Trajectory & Times
Credit: NASA
This plot released by scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory mission shows the position of the comet Lovejoy - C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) - as it will appear at certain times (in GMT) overnight between Dec. 15 and 16, when the comet will plunge through the outer atmosphere of the sun.
26 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Starchart
Credit: STEREO/SECCHI NRL
Data from NASA's STEREO spacecraft show the sungrazing comet Lovejoy in relation to background stars on Dec. 11, 2011.
27 of 34
Comet Lovejoy from ISS
Credit: NASA
Almost a week after first sighting in the night sky, Comet Lovejoy is visible to the six astronauts and cosmonauts currently aboard the International Space Station.
28 of 34
Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy Seen From Argentina
Credit: Jakub Cerny, Jan Ebr, Martin Jelinek, Petr Kubanek, Michael Prouza, Michal Ringes
This series of images shows comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy as it appeared to a remote controlled observatory in Malargue, Argentina on the mornings of Dec. 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 in 2011, just days before it was set to fly through the sun's outer atmosphere. This image was taken by a skywatching team of astronomers that includes: Jakub Cerny, Jan Ebr, Martin Jelinek, Petr Kubanek, Michael Prouza, Michal Ringes.
29 of 34
Comet Lovejoy View from STEREO Ahead Spacecraft
Credit: STEREO
STEREO will also be observing the comet from its positions on each side of the Sun. This is the view that the Ahead and Behind spacecraft will have.
30 of 34
Comet Lovejoy's Sun Dive: Model
Credit: NASA/SDO
This model of the sun created by scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the path of comet Lovejoy , C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), as it would have appeared from Earth in July 2011. The blue line denotes the path of the comet, with arrows showing its direction of travel.
31 of 34
Comet Lovejoy View from Earth (SOHO)
Credit: STEREO
This is the basic trajectory of Comet Lovejoy that will be seen by SOHO and SDO
32 of 34
Comet Lovejoy as Viewed by SOHO
Credit: SOHO
The sungrazing comet Lovejoy entered the field of view of NASA's SOHO satellite's LASCO C3 camera on Dec. 14, 2011. The comet is visible as the bright streak on the bottom.
33 of 34
Comet Lovejoy Seen by Remanzacco Observatory
Credit: Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero & Nick Howes
Amateur astronomers Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero and Nick Howes caught these views of comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy on Dec. 4, 2011, using the robotic GRAS Observatory telescope in Australia. The image was taken as the comet neared the sun for an expected Dec. 15/16 pass through the solar corona.
34 of 34
Comet Lovejoy
Credit: STEREO
NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft captured this view of the Kruetz family comet nearing its fiery fate. The comet is the size of two football fields and will become very bright as it nears the sun's surface on December 15th or 16th.
