In the past few days, Comet Lovejoy has made quite a name for itself. First, it survived a close encounter with the Sun virtually intact and, following observations post-solar scrape, some are predicting that Lovejoy could become one of the famed, rare, great comets, the last of which was seen in 2006-7. Now, Lovejoy has made headlines again, all thanks to pictures.
Dan Burbank, NASA astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) resident, recently photographed Comet Lovejoy from space. Looking out the window of the ISS, Burbank snapped an incredible picture, showcasing Lovejoy in all of its glory. As seen from space, Lovejoy is already a great comet, shining bright and sporting a long, long tail.
That was last week. Now, as the comet continues to brighten after its close encounter with the Sun, even more spectacular pictures have been hitting the web.
Right now, Universe Today has an updated Comet Lovejoy gallery. Simply put, the pictures must be seen to be believed as they are just that incredible. Honestly, if it were not for the curved earth with its illuminated upper atmosphere at the bottom, one could think the Milky Way speckled images were actually shot on Earth from a dark sky site. Oh, yes, there are such photos, too.
So, how about seeing Lovejoy for yourself?
Well, the news is good and bad. Bad news first: the comet is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere's sky right now. The good news: the comet will be making an appearance in about a month's time low in the Southern sky. Go here formore details about how to track down the comet and what it may look like of things go favorably.
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