Incredible Timelapse of Comet Lovejoy Streaking By With A Milky Way Backdrop

The above picture was a recent NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (click to enlarge) that shows Comet Lovejoy flying over the Paranal Observatory in Antofagasta, Chile.

We showed you how Lovejoy made its death-defying lap around the Sun, but failed in showing you just how beautiful the comet is. Luckily, the below time lapse video was made that catches not only Lovejoy, but yet another awesome shot of the Milky Way.

Before watching the video, however, I strongly suggest to play it in full screen HD in the darkest room you can find; it really is breathtaking.

Night Time Lapse of Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) rising above the Andes near Santiago de Chile, 23rd December 2011, just before sunrise. Set of 4 sequences taken with different lenses “zooming in” the scene.