Christmas Comet

Comet Lovejoy, which survived a plunge near the surface of the Sun, extends above Earth's atmosphere in this December 21 view from the International Space Station. Astronaut Dan Burbank, commander of Expedition 30, snapped the photograph. Lovejoy passed less than one million miles from the Sun on December 15. The encounter stripped away its original tail but left the comet itself intact. A new tail quickly sprouted as more ice at Lovejoy's surface vaporized, releasing both gas and particles of dust into space. [NASA]