Explanation:
On December 24,
Comet Lovejoy rose in dawn's twilight,
arcing above the eastern horizon, its tails
swept back
by the solar wind and sunlight.
Seen on the left
is the comet's
early
morning appearance
alongside the southern Milky Way from the town of Intendente Alvear,
La Pampa province, Argentina.
The short star trails include bright southern sky stars
Alpha and Beta Centauri near
the center of the frame, but the long bright streak that crosses the
comet tails is a little closer to home.
Waiting for
the proper moment to start his exposure,
the photographer has also caught the
International
Space Station still glinting
in the sunlight as
it orbits (top to bottom) above the local horizon.
The right panel
is the near horizon view of Comet Lovejoy
from the space station itself, captured only two days earlier.
In fact, Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander,
recorded Comet Lovejoy rising just before the Sun in a
spectacular video (linked here).
Even considering the
other vistas available from
low Earth orbit, Burbank describes the comet as
"the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space."
