Comet Lovejoy: Sungrazing Survivor . ... Credit Copyright: LASCO , SOHO Consortium , NRL , ESA , NASA Explanation: Like most other sungrazing comets, Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) was not expected to survive its close encounter with the Sun . ... Based on their orbits, sungrazer comets are thought to belong to the Kreutz family of comets, created by successive break ups from a single large parent comet that passed very near the Sun in the twelfth century. ... U. Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day ...