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  • 22
    Dec
    2011
    5:12pm, EST

    'Amazing' view of comet from space

    NASA astronaut Dan Burbank spots Comet Lovejoy from the International Space Station.

    Watch on YouTube
    By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

    NASA astronaut Dan Burbank shared a matchless view of Comet Lovejoy from the International Space Station, showing the comet's magnificent tail from a vantage point high above the atmosphere. "I probably saw the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space, and that's saying an awful lot, because every day is filled with amazing things," he told Detroit's WDIV-TV in an interview.

    Hundreds of photos, captured from an altitude of 240 miles, were assembled into the video you see here. You can see the comet rise from the horizon, shining through the green line of atmospheric airglow, and then fade away as the sunrise breaks out in brilliance. It's a view only three people can see with their own eyes — although that little list will rise to six on Friday when three more crewmates arrive on a Russian Soyuz craft.

    Go full screen with the video, and after you're done feasting your eyes on Burbank's amazing view, treat yourself to these other video views:

    • Lovely Lovejoy! Comet shot at sunrise
    • PhotoBlog: The best of NASA's night lights
    • See the world from outer space ... in 60 seconds

    Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Science editor at msnbc.com, author of "The Case for Pluto," winner of the National Academies Communication Award for Cosmic Log in 2008. Alan Boyle covers the physical sciences, anthropology, technological innovation and space science and exploration for msnbc.com. Check out Cosmic Log's archives by following the links below, and see Boyle's full biography at http://bit.ly/boyle-bio

Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News Blogroll

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The Case for Pluto
Alan Boyle's first book tells the story of Pluto's ups and downs as well as the discoveries of other dwarf planets in our own solar system and even more alien worlds beyond. Buy "The Case for Pluto" ...

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