Back on planet Earth, and deep inside a pitch-black, sulfuric cave on the Albanian-Greek border, we reported on a study that discovered a spider "megacity" — containing over 111,000 arachnids forming a web that may be the largest ever found.

Usually, sunlight makes cometary gases glow green from diatomic carbon (C2) or blue from ionized carbon monoxide (CO+). With these colors missing, the comet now appears golden. Scientists aren't sure whether the unusual hue is related to its close encounter with the Sun .

Watch Comet 96P/Macholz brighten as it flies by the sun in these time-lapses captured by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO).