Death-Defying Comet: Photos of Comet Lovejoy's Dive Through Sun

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Comet Lovejoy as Viewed by SOHO

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.

Comet Lovejoy Seen by Remanzacco Observatory

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.

Comet Lovejoy

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.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.