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Check out this absolutely stunning collection of new Comet Lovejoy photos taken by space station commander Dan Burbank just before the Christmas holidays on Dec. 22, 2011 – what an amazing holiday treat, the Chrtistmas Comet!
Burbank shot these exquisitely detailed nighttime images showing the comet near the Earth’s horizon and framed with a gorgeously rich star field, all while floating aboard the International Space Station (ISS) some 400 kilometers (250 miles) above all of us – and absent any atmospheric interferences and distortions !
Burbank is a NASA astronaut and commander of ISS Expedition 30.
The comet has put on a spectacular show for observers in the Earth’s southern hemisphere despite prognostications of a fiery death as it careened through the suns corona during perihelion on Dec. 16 at a distance of 140,000 kilometers (87,000 mi).
Astronaut Burbank launched to the ISS on Nov. 13 along with Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin aboard the Soyuz TMA-22 capsule from the Baikonur Cosmosdrome. The trio docked on Nov. 16 for a more than 4 month stay.
Comet Lovejoy was only discovered on 27 November 2011, by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy and classified as a Kreutz sungrazer. It has put on an unexpected and magnificent Christmas Comet holiday show.
Burbank first caught an accidental glimpse of Comet Lovejoy on Dec. 21 and snapped an initial set of beautiful comet photos from the Cupola observation dome aboard the ISS.
And – there’s still time to create an Asteroid Vesta themed winter holiday greeting card, here
Will the comet be visible from the Northern hemisphere at all? thank you –
I think it will, unless it has a very tilted orbit. But will it still have a tail?
Un-for-tuna-nettly… No, this comet is not presently visible from the N. Hemisphere. Drat… was hoping… cuz this would have been comet number 46 for me!
My envy of astronauts has reached a new high .
I was sitting outside at about 6:10 central time. Out of the corner of my eye there was this flash, like someone took a picture at my side, it was so bright. Then I swung around and seen a 10% tail. It lasted about 10 seconds before it faded away. It was awosome.
Gods spender is so mind blowing!
It sure is! Parden my outburst towards Tor Lar.. I just had to respend to his almighty knowing mind. Good for you for having the guts to admire Gods work. I sure do. God Bless you :-)… .