Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday
on Twitter A comet discovered on Dec. 2, 2011 is now on a near
collision course with the Sun, and likely won’t survive such a
close encounter. The best part is that you can follow along and
watch as it happens! Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy will pass behind
the sun at around 24:00 UTC (7 pm EST) on Thursday, Dec. 15,
2011 and probably won’t be seen again. In the video above,
processed images from the STEREO A spacecraft shows Comet
Lovejoy blazing towards the Sun, with the comet’s tail wiggling
as it interacts with the solar wind. The Solar Dynamics
Observatory website has a special page where they will be
uploading the latest images of the comet as it meets its fiery
fate. As Comet Lovejoy moves toward perihelion, the SDO team
will point SDO a little to the left of the Sun to try and see
the tail of the comet with their instruments. This website will
allow you to see those images as quickly as they can download
them from the spacecraft. Science live