Comet Leonard: remember its name because it will be talked about in December and until the beginning of the year 2022. Discovered a year ago, it promises to be the comet of the year! Here is how, when and where to observe it?
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C / 2021 A1 (Leonard), or to put it more simply, Comet Leonard, looks very promising for visibility at theeye naked the next few days. Coming of edge of the solar system, the’star exceededorbit of Mars and is now visiting the vicinity of neighboring and (almost) twin planets, Earth and Venus.
Its smallest distance with our Planet will be on December 12 at 1:52 p.m. GMT precisely, or 2:52 p.m. Paris time, some 35 million kilometers away, which remains very far away, and therefore safe for us Earthlings. Six days later, on December 18-19, it will be the turn of Venus to welcome it in its neighborhood, and this time to touch it since it will pass only 4 million kilometers from its surface! We dare not imagine the spectacle that will be visible from there.
Then the comet will continue on its way to perihelion, the point of its orbit closest to the Sun which will be on January 3, 2022, exactly one year after its discovery by theastronomer Gregory J. Leonard – who naturally gave it its name – at the Mount Lemmon Observatory. C / 2021 A1 will then move to 92 million kilometers from our Star (60% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun), which is a lot, and therefore reduces the risk of it disintegrating. Although it is not excluded that this happens, it naturally depends on the degree of cohesion of its core of ice and dust. The risk that it will break up is always great for a comet, during its migration in the hottest region of the Solar system. Hopefully this will not happen, so that one can make the most of the spectacle of his visit to the sky in the morning and then in the evening.
Comet Leonard is getting brighter and brighter!
Specialists’ forecasts suggest that Comet Leonard could reach magnitude 5, or even 4, by December 12, thanks to its passage closer to Earth. Last night (December 8), C / 2021 A1 crossed the symbolic bar of magnitude 6, i.e. the limit of brightness to the naked eye of a celestial object. And everything indicates that its brightness will continue to increase until it peaks between December 11 and 13 (seen from Earth, always). However, is it clearly visible in the sky? The answer is yes under optimal conditions, without light pollution, it is indeed possible to spot it but it remains a very diffuse and not punctual like a star or a planet, and without a clear outline. We must therefore redouble our attention to distinguish it. To have more chances to admire it, it is strongly advised to bring a pair of binoculars or an instrument collecting even more light (telescope or refracting telescope) if you own one (or know someone who does). You will then be able to appreciate the beauty of its core surrounded by gas, its hair and plumes scattered in interplanetary space, opposite the Sun.
For weeks now, the comet has been followed by many amateur astronomers around the world who share on the social networks photos of their hunts. Among the most beautiful and spectacular are those where C / 2021 A1 is displayed in front of galaxies, located in the background, tens of millions of light years from Earth. More recently, on December 3, Comet Leonard came close to theglobular cluster Messier 3 (M3). Apparently of course, because M3 is actually over 35,000 light years away from us, and the comet.
Comet Leonard will be visible at the end of the night then at the beginning of the night
At the beginning of December, comet Leonard is visible high in the sky in the second part of the night until thedawn, passing Dogs de Chasse au Bouvier, then to the south-east. Its high speed (254,000 km / h) made it travel the celestial vault with great strides in relation to the “fixed” stars (which appear to us fixed). Over the nights, the star will lose height in the sky and approach the horizon as it advances towards the Earth. On December 9, she will enter the constellation of the Serpentarius and will disappear from the morning sky, before dawn, on December 13, to slide into the evening sky, on December 14. She will then be in front of the Milky Way. It will be necessary to seek it in the light of the dusk, above the southwest horizon.
On December 16, in the evening, we can admire it in front of Sagittarius. On December 17 and 18, in the vicinity of the sparkling Venus. The opportunity to remember that these beautiful eveningswinter will be enhanced by the alignment of our neighbor with Saturn and Jupiter. And to this are added the Geminids, the most beautiful rain ofshooting Stars of the year whose peak of activity coincides with the night of the comet’s smallest distance from Earth.
We therefore cannot recommend enough that you go out and enjoy these beautiful celestial shows in the heart of the longest nights of the year. By turning the back, as always, at the light pollution, in order to admire all those objects that fill the darkness. Comet Leonard will undoubtedly be Comet of the Year if its brightness continues to increase as advertised, so if you miss it you will have to wait 35,000 years to see it again (estimates from its orbital period).
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