Comet Lovejoy Survives Fiery Plunge Through Sun, NASA Says

by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer

Date: 15 December 2011 Time: 07:32 PM ET

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This image, taken by the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft, shows Comet Lovejoy just 90 minutes or so before its closest approach to the sun on Dec. 15, 2011. CREDIT: SOHO/LASCO (ESA/NASA) View full size image

This story was updated at 8:50 p.m. EST.
A newfound comet defied long odds today (Dec. 15), surviving a suicidal dive through the sun's hellishly hot atmosphere, according to NASA scientists.
Comet Lovejoy plunged through the sun's corona at about 7 p.m. EST today (midnight GMT on Dec. 16), coming within 87,000 miles (140,000 kilometers) of our star's surface. Temperatures in the corona can reach 2 million degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 million degrees Celsius), so most researchers expected the icy
MORE: http://www.space.com/13959-doomed-comet-lovejoy-sun-encounter-wrap.html


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