Environment

Incredible Footage of Comet Lovejoy from Space and Time-Lapse Video of View from Earth

Cool Video of Comet Lovejoy

Dan Burbank, commander of the International Space Station, encountered a sight Wednesday even more incredible than the everyday views from his vantage point 240 miles above Earth’s horizon. The amazing Comet Lovejoy, which had recently “grazed” the sun, was captured on camera by Burbank who describes the sight as “the most amazing thing” he had “ever seen in space:”

The video is hundreds of still images of the comet taken by Burbank at nighttime on December 21. The comet was only discovered on November 27 of this year and was named after the amateur Australian astronomer who spotted it, Terry Lovejoy.

The 660-foot-wide icy rock has already survived a recent brush with destruction, coming uncomfortably close to the sun last week.   Only 10 percent of the comet – which was probably millions of tons – survived the encounter.

Cool Video of Comet Lovejoy

Astronomers say the comet came close to where temperatures hit several million degrees.U.S. Navy solar researcher Karl Battams tells the Associated Press that Lovejoy came within 75,000 miles of the sun’s surface. W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, tells AP that the newly discovered comet probably is related to a comet that came by Earth on the way to the sun in 1106. Astronomers say it may be another 800 or 900 years before it nears the sun again.

Gabriel Brammer from ESO captured an incredible time-lapse video of the comet from earth on December 22. PHYSORG reports that Gabriel was finishing his shift as support astronomer at the Paranal Observatory when Comet Lovejoy rose over the horizon just before dawn.

Comet Lovejoy from the VLT, Chile from g br on Vimeo.

Comments (19)

  • OBAMA IS A FOUL EVIL TRAITOR
    Posted on December 27, 2011 at 6:03am

    Attention! Google these stories, they are TRUE!

    * OBAMA SIGNED LAW ALLOWING INDEFINITE DETENTION & TORTURE OF AMERICANS

    * MILITARY TO DESIGNATE U.S. CITIZENS AS ‘ENEMY’ DURING COLAPSE

    * HOMELAND SECURITY ACTIVATED HUNDREDS OF FEMA CONCENTRATION CAMPS ACROSS THE U.S. IN DECEMBER 2011

    * FEMA BUYS 1 BILLION DOLLARS OF SURVIVAL FOODS

    * FEMA BUYS 140 MILLION BODY BAGS

    * LOCAL COPS GET MILITARY WEAPONS, TANKS, ETC

    * CONGRESS FUNDS MASSIVE EXPANSION OF TSA CHECKPOINTS

    OBAMA IS A FOUL EVIL TRAITOR  
    • 4xeverything
      Posted on December 27, 2011 at 7:15am

      I hope everyone has a contingency plan to get out of dodge when the time comes, I know I do. If you do, don’t wait until things get “really bad”” before you use it, because you know the saying that things always get worse before they get better.

      Report Post » 4xeverything  
    • Brad in Victoria
      Posted on December 27, 2011 at 11:34pm

      what does this have to do with comet lovejoy?

      Report Post »  
  • donh2
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:33pm

    A comet 666 feet diameter rips the sky on the exact 12/21/11 date of the winter solstis….then you and I must die…for the Son of Satan has been born into the flesh from the mother of abominations and dwells amongst you… Merry Christmas…>>> http://youtu.be/RVrOm0rQj38

    Report Post »  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on December 27, 2011 at 9:32am

      errrmm…

      Yeeeeaaaaaaah… Ever read your bible? It’s clear that no man will know the day or the time of the end. It’s also clear that (conversely) that when folks like you say “Today is the day,” it’s definitely *not* the day.

      People have been looking at one sign or another as proof that they were living in the end times since Jesus died. You’re no different than any of them. All of them were wrong (to include the religion invented by Joseph Smith) and you are, too.

      I’ve been a Christian since a very young age, was brought up in the church, I believe in the End Times Prophesies and you look like a lunatic even to me.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • holy ghostbuster
      Posted on December 28, 2011 at 6:36am

      What’s clear is that DON H2 is a nut.

      Report Post » holy ghostbuster  
  • Mandors
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:17pm

    YAAAAAAWN!!!.

    A half-wit amateur with a solar screen on his telescope could take these. Unfortunately, that is just the time person who seems to be running NASA these days. Political agendas an social engineering have ruined what was once the most important space organization on the planet.

    Report Post » Mandors  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on December 27, 2011 at 9:22am

      Maybe, but could a half-wit amateur with a solar screen on his telescope take the video from space?

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
  • knighttemplar999
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:11pm

    More than likely that is jettisoned feces from the space station restroom that was inadvertently caught on film . Now the ass-tronaut has to cook up a story about a “comet” to avoid the scandal that their own turds are falling all over the earth. Next time you step in dog poo I advise you to check the bottom of your shoe for a faint odor of Tang, a tell-tale sign of space poo.

    Report Post »  
  • B-Neil
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:07pm

    I hope there is reincarnation. I’d like to come back in about; two hundred years. It will be awsome if man keeps his wits about them. CARRY ON McDUFF p.s. HAPPY NEW YEAR

    Report Post »  
  • RightThinking1
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:01pm

    As an aside, NASA is losing it’s luster, so to speak. Over the last 20 years or so the agency seems to be becoming less than what it was. NASA stated that the comet would be destroyed in passing the sun. Oops, it wasn’t. They have made lots of mistakes. While one might argue that is to be expected, one also ought to view declarations by NASA with questions rather than blind acceptance. Most notably, they have acknowledged that the data from their satellite temperature monitoring is/was in error. More recently their big roll-out regarding algae that can substitute arsenic for phosphorus has been called in for serious question. In short, when ‘scientists’ speak, you should question, because they generally don’t question themselves as rigorously as they ought to.

    Report Post »  
    • sy212
      Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:22pm

      Hey, Obama wants to turn NASA into a Muslim think tank. What a shame

      Report Post »  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:56pm

    Fun stuff!

    Report Post » Stoic one  
  • COFemale
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:55pm

    Makes you wonder if the star the wise men saw could have been a comet at just the right angle and appearing to point its tale toward Bethlehem.

    What i get tickled with is when scientist have discounted that any of this could happen. They can’t comprehend when you are “in charge” of the universe anything is possible. But, hey who am I but a humble servant to God.

    Report Post » COFemale  
  • Phoneguy
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:27pm

    Space is awesome, we are so tiny!

    Report Post » Phoneguy  
  • TheGreyPiper
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 11:58am

    75000 miles from the Sun? Wow. If it passed that close to Earth, I think the whole world would have been in a panic!

    Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:52pm

      Definitly, the worst case scenario is a Everest sized rock headed from sun-up direction where we may have no notice of impact until it enters the atmosphere and we see the same thing the last dinos did a few million years ago.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on December 26, 2011 at 11:58am

    Space tourism now!

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  

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