Comet Lovejoy is a comet recently discovered by amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. It is 660 feet wide and came within 87,000 miles of the sun’s surface, dubbed a Kreutz Sungrazer.
It was to the amazement of astronomers that a comet of ice and rock had survived so near to the sun's surface, millions of degrees, only losing its tail temporarily. Estimates have Comet Lovejoy on a return path every 600 years.