When the Commander of the International Space Station says he just saw “the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space,” you know you’re in for something incredible. We’ve never seen a view of a comet like this.
Yesterday International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy, as seen from about 385km above the Earth’s horizon. The clip of him talking about it is from an interview he did with WDIV-TV in Detroit. When you see someone who’s constantly seeing wondrous things filled with awe, there’s something very special about it.
Lovejoy, which is primarily made of ice and dirt, survived a very close call with the sun last week. It looked to be on a collision course and didn’t seem to have a snowball’s chance in hell. Luckily it whizzed right by the star of pheobus, and aside from a little bit of melt it wasn’t much worse for wear. We’re so glad, or we wouldn’t have these incredible images to drool over this week. You can see more over at NASA. [NASA via Mike Elgan]
Image Credit: NASA
adamc
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 3:21 PMIs that another one on the horizon 5 seconds in?
MD
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 12:14 AMTaht’s Pobably a Low Earth Satellite, as an aircraft isn’t likely to move that fast…I saw it first time through as well… wondered, had to go back to see.
It appears to be outside the atmosphere, though it is behind the edge when first apparent.
Callan
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 9:46 PMI think I saw this comet drop, I was in Hobart. I didn’t know what it was, so maybe this is my answer….