Categories: Comets

Stunning! Comet Lovejoy Photographed from the Space Station

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. Credit: NASA

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*Now updated with video!*

We can’t get enough of Comet Lovejoy! But this latest image is off the charts for its beauty and it’s jaw-dropping to contemplate it was taken from space. Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander onboard the International Space Station took this image of Comet Lovejoy on Dec. 21, 2011. See more of Burbank’s shots of Lovejoy here.

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NASA now has a timelapse video of Burbank’s observations of Comet Lovejoy:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/