| John Ashley was in Arivaca, Arizona, last night when he caught Comet Leonard – 2021’s best comet – in the evening sky. Space Physics ? DecemView at EarthSky Community Photos. Taken by Dan Bush on Albany, Missouri, USA.

Its exceptionally close pass of bright Venus (2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million km) happened on December 17-18. And it’s near Venus, the brightest planet! Comet Leonard swept closest to Earth on December 12, 2021, passing some 21 million miles (34 million km) away. And – although we’re not hearing reports of people viewing the comet with the unaided eye – Comet Leonard is still a good binocular comet. So keep watching the comet this week!Īs always, dark skies are recommended for this diffuse object.

New reports on December 20 also indicate its tail is slightly bigger. Is it having outbursts as it nears its closest point to the sun in January? We heard on December 15, and again around December 19-20, that the comet had brightened more than expected. Comet Leonard is 2021’s best cometĬomet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) – 2021’s best and brightest comet – is now in the evening sky for Northern Hemisphere observers. Soon after passing near the Earth in mid-December, the comet will shift from northern to southern skies.Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) from La Parguera, Lajas, PR by Raymond Negrón. The exposures were taken from the dark skies above the The featured picture was composed from 62 images taken through a moderate-sized telescope - one set of exposures tracking the comet, while another set tracking the background stars. Swoops around the Sun in early January 2022.Ĭomet Leonard brightening to become visible to theĬomet Leonard was captured just over a week ago APOD: 2021 November 21 - Introducing Comet LeonardĮach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isįeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.Ĭomet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) was discovered as a faint smudge in

Comet leonard stellarium