Comet Lovejoy – Update

Comet Lovejoy – Update

Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) is on the path of selfdestruction. It is set to pass through the sun's intensely hot corona, within 87,000 miles (140,000 km) of the solar surface. This point of closest approach, called perihelion, is expected at 7 p.m. EST Dec. 15

Kreutz sungrazing comet seen diving into Sun

Kreutz sungrazing comet seen diving into Sun

On September 14, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watched what happened when one comet got too close. Click on the arrow to play a 6-hour time lapse movie: One icy comet went in, none came out. Discovered on Sept. 13th by Michal Kusiak of Poland and…