Lovejoy survives perigee - and now plays mini-Ikeya-Seki for Oz et al.

Defying practically all predictions, comet P/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) not only survived perihelion with ease but then formed a long and narrow tail that is well placed for the S. hemisphere now and resembles a small copy of that greatest sungrazer of the 20th century, Ikeya-Seki and giving it a quite good rank among all fine comets. Some picture collections of this amazing comet by V. Tabur, R. McNaught and B. Armstead, protocols of its behavior after and before perihelion, a calculation if its period (roughly 800 years), the lightcurve (that peaked at ~ -4 mag.), various notes in English, French and German, numerous satellite clips around perihelion (also w/an overly dramatic score and as a ballad ...), the geometries for SOHO and STEREO A (more) and various pictures (earlier).

Selected pictures of Dec. 26 local time (dito), Dec. 25 (dito, dito), Dec. 24 (dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, video, another), Dec. 23 (details, more, more, dito, details, more, dito, more, Dec. 22 from the ISS and from the ground (details, more, cloudy, in motion, more), Dec. 21 from the ISS (more & video) and from the ground (dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, details, dito, dito, dito), Dec. 20, Dec. 19 from the ground (earlier) and STEREO A, Dec. 18 from the ground and STEREO A (more), Dec. 17 from the ground (alt., more, explained, dito) and STEREO A (later), Dec. 16/17 LASCO C3 animation, Dec. 14-17 LASCO C3 montage and animation, Dec. 16 LASCO C2 (animation), LASCO C3 and STEREO A, Dec. 15 SDO (alt., alt.) and LASCO C3, Dec. 11 STEREO B and Dec. 4 ground-based.

Visual reports of Dec. 25 (a drawing), Dec. 24 (more), Dec. 23, Dec. 20, Dec. 17 and Dec. 16. Press releases and space agency notes of Dec. 24, Dec. 22, Dec. 16 (more and more), Dec. 15, Dec. 14 and various dates. And news, blog and mailing list coverage of Dec. 25, Dec. 24 (dito), Dec. 23 (dito, dito, dito), Dec. 22 (dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito), Dec. 19 (dito), Dec. 18 (dito), Dec. 17 (dito, dito, dito, dito, dito), Dec. 16 (dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, dito), Dec. 15 (dito, dito, dito, dito, more), Dec. 13, Dec. 6 and Dec. 5. • In other small bodies news a big paper on active asteroids (more), a bolide over Canada that may have dropped meteorites (more, more, more, more, more and more), a fine Geminids peak mit a peak ZHR of 200 (picture, another, yet another, composite, more, preview, side effect ...), a preview of the 2012 Quadrantids and a paper on the 2011 Draconids, observed from a plane.

The last total lunar eclipse in 3 years on Dec. 10 was widely observed, with yours truly in an ideal spot in India: this was mentioned in international reports here, here and here. Numerous pictures, reports and websites about this lunar eclipse from around the world can be found e.g. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here (the most unusual report - from the Nordkapp!), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here (anyone volunteering to sort them by country or longitude? :-) - also a preview of what the LRO planned and a bizarre headline ...

In other news insights into the chemistry of Pluto, an apparent detection of the rings of Uranus by an amateur (more), recent hi-res Jupiters, all planets in the sky now (here they are), Moon, Venus & Mercury on Nov. 27, space weather visuals, insights, lunar effects and prediction attempts - and a hectic aurora movie. • Insights into the progenitor of SN 2011fe (more, more, more, more, more, more and more press releases and coverage here and hier). • Finally the reentry of a Soyuz upper stage was widely observed in Central Europe yesterday (official word, more and more analysis, further stories here and here and more witness reports) - and an article (p.10-11) on imaging satellites.