Despite predictions of dying in a crash with Earth's sun, Comet Lovejoy survived and is delighting skywatchers in the southern hemisphere.
Comet Lovejoy is making a guest appearance as a brand-new Christmas star at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Paranal Observatory. Among the images of Lovejoy's spectacular trip: a spectacular time-lapse sequence on Dec. 21 taken from the International Space Station.
Named for Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy, the comet was discovered on November 17. Last week, the comet skimmed the sun in a dive that experts predicted would be its demise.
Instead, Comet Lovejoy re-emerged and has been lighting up the southern skies.
"For me this comet is a Christmas present to the people who will stay at Paranal over Christmas," said ESO optician Guillaume Blanchard.
If you can't make it to Paranal, I've included a time-lapse video of Comet Lovejoy, courtesy of ESO at the observatory. If Comet Lovejoy survives its further travels, it will make another Earth appearance in approximately 314 years, experts say.
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