An picture of comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) taken November 13, 2021, from June Lake inCalifornia Credit & & Copyright: Dan E. Bartlett
Now is the time to begin tracking Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard, as it begins its dawn dive sunward.
The days following New Year’s 2021 saw a comet discovery with capacity. On the night of January 3 rd, precisely one year to the day prior to perihelion, astronomer Gregory J. Leonard operating at the Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson Arizona found the very first long-period comet of the year, C/2021 A1Leonard Shining at magnitude +19 and 5 Astronomical Units (AU) remote (about the range of Jupiter from the Sun) at the time of discovery, early indicators hinted that comet A1 Leonard may show to be something unique, come completion of 2021.
On an 80,000 year orbit incoming, Comet A1 Leonard is due for ejection from the planetary system after its perihelion passage early next year. The comet reached aphelion 3,500 AU remote in the Oort Cloud about 35,000 years earlier. The upcoming perihelion hand down January 3 rd, 2022 will be 0.62 AU from the Sun, interior to the orbit of Venus
Credit: Comet A1 Leonard near the galaxy NGC 4395 in mid-November Credit and copyright: Michael Jäger
Keep in mind, A1 Leonard might be an experienced long-lasting visitor to the inner planetary system with a prospective to over-perform as it nears theSun Current forecasts have the comet reaching +4 th magnitude, and it might flirt with naked eye brightness. The comet passes simply 0.233 AU (217 million miles or 34.9 million kilometers) from the Earth on December 12 th, another plus.
The orbit of Comet A1 Leonard, set for its closest passage near Earth.
Often, dynamically brand-new comets show a burst of activity as they approach the inner planetary system for the very first time, warm up, and sublimate their external layers. This can likewise phony out observers at first, resulting in excessively positive forecasts. We all keep in mind the Great Comet that wasn’t throughout the 1973 passage of C/1973 E1Kohoutek A comet such as A1 Leonard has actually endured a perihelion passage in the past without breaking down … though this one will be its last.
Getting brighter … Comet A1 Leonard from November 13 th. Credit and copyright: Hisayoshi Kato
Currently, A1 Leonard lies high at dawn for northern hemisphere observers in the constellation Canes Venatici, and starts the plunge sunward throughout the very first half of the month. We in fact cross the aircraft of the comet’s orbit on December 8 th, and the comet might show a sharp ‘anti-tail’ spike sunward around this time.
Another interesting result might likewise enter play throughout the December phantom of Comet A1Leonard The the Sun-Earth-Comet phase-angle for the tail will sit at higher than 120 degrees from December 9 th to December 22 nd, and reach an optimum of 160 degrees on December 14 th simply after it passes closest to the Earth on December 12 th This establishes conditions perfect for a possible rise in brightness, including the brightness of the tail to the coma of the comet itself.
Comet A1 Leonard from October 30 th. Credit and copyright: Zlatko Orbanic.
It’s constantly difficult to understand precisely what comets will do. The world Venus in fact goes through the tail of Comet A1 Leonard on December 19 th, potentially developing a Venusian meteor shower at the same time. Currently, just JAXA‘s Akatsuki objective in on-hand and active in orbit around Venus.
Unfortunately, the night phantom for Comet A1 Leonard will be a bashful one after it turns from early morning to the sunset sky around December 15 th. For northern hemisphere observers the comet remains low in the sunset. Southern hemisphere audiences will, nevertheless, get a much better consider as the comet fades, declining in the instructions of the constellation of Piscis Austrinus in early 2022.
The celestial course of Comet A1 Leonard in December2021 Credit: Starry Night
Here are some essential celestial dates with fate for Comet A1 Leonard (note ‘close’ suggests within a degree, unless otherwise suggested):
November
28-Crosses into Coma Berenices
The dawn course of the comet in earlyDecember Credit: Starry Night
December
1-Crosses into Canes Venatici
3-Photo op: passes really near the globular cluster Messier 3
4-Crosses into Bo ötes
6-Passes 4 degrees from the brilliant star Arcturus
8-Orbit edge-on as seen from Earth
9-Crosses into Serpens Caput
10-Crosses into Hercules
11-Crosses into Ophiuchus
12-Crosses the celestial equator southward, and passes 0.233 AU (349 million km) from the Earth, moving half a degree (the period of a Full Moon) per hour.
13-Flips over from the early morning to night sky, and might peak at +4 th magnitude.
14-Passes near +3.3 magnitude star Nu Ophiuchi, and into Serpens Cauda
14-Transits Messier 16, and passes 15 degrees from the Sun.
15-Crosses the stellar aircraft southward
15-Briefly crosses into Scutum, passes near comet 252 P LINEAR, passes 1.5 degrees from Messier 17, and crosses into Sagittarius
16-Passes near the stars: +3.5 magnitude Xi ^ 2 Sagittarii, +3.8 Omicron Sagittarii and +2.8 Albaldah, and crosses the ecliptic southward
17-Passes 5 degrees from Venus
18-Passes simply 0.028 AU (4.2 million km) from Venus
21-Crosses into Microscopium
30-Passes into Piscis Austrinus
The sunset view of Comet A1 Leonard for the last half of December, as appear from SouthAfrica Credit: Starry Night
January
3-Reaches perihelion at 0.62 AU from the Sun
February
1-Drops pull back listed below +10 th magnitude
As you can see, mid-December is a hectic one for Comet A1 Leonard, as it nears the dynamic stellar aircraft.
The light curve of Comet A1 Leonard, with observations (black dots) versus perihelion (purple line). Adapted from Seiichi Yoshida’s Weekly Information About Bright Comets.
Binoculars are your friend when it concerns sweeping up a comet: just scan the suspect target field, and search for the faint fuzzy that declines to snap into focus. At this phase, comets regularly appear like globular clusters that decline to deal with into private stars. ‘If’ Comet A1 Leonard over-performs and burglarize naked eye area, things might get truly intriguing. Like Comet F3 NEOWISE, A1 Leonard would then have the prospective to position with foreground items in the dawn, producing a really photogenic comet.
Plan on braving the early morning December cold to record sight of Comet A1 Leonard at dawn.
Originally released on Universe Today.
