Comet Leonard was predicted to illuminate the sky for this month. Scientists believe it is disappearing, but don’t know why.
The comet was discovered in January of this year. It has been moving at close to 160,000 miles an hour since its discovery.
Scientists believe it could be already splitting within a year of its discovery, or that it will soon begin to separate.
As it crosses Earth this weekend for the first-time in 70,000 Years, the cosmic ice ball will continue to provide stargazers with a treat.
As it becomes brighter during December, it will be visible in Northern Hemisphere’s sky before dawn. However it could disintegrate after that.
Binoculars and a telescope are the best tools for viewing, as well as in areas with dark skies starting on Sunday (12/12).
The Comet will be difficult to see after Christmas. On January 3, it will come closest to the Sun, at 57.2 Million Miles (92,000,000 km).
After it has circled our star it will be sent out of the Solar System into an orbit slightly hyperbolic, where it will never be seen again.
Comet Leonard, a newly discovered comet (pictured), will light up the sky as it passes Earth this month for the first-time in over 70,000 years.
Gregory J Leonard discovered Comet Leonard in January at Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory, Arizona. It was then cataloged under C/2021 AI.
Quanzhi Ye, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, told Space.com that the comet is already fading as it approaches Earth, which is strange because it should be getting brighter before a close approach.
If a comet’s orbit is close to the Sun it warms up, spewing dust and gases that create a gigantic glowing head bigger than other planets.
It’s not good news. Ye suggested that the comet ought to be more bright and visible. “If the comet is not becoming brighter, then there’s something wrong. But we don’t yet know what.
Comets – also called ‘cosmic snowballs’ or ‘icy dirtballs’ – are conglomerations of frozen gas, dust and ice left over from the formation of the solar system.
Comets orbit the sun in an extremely elliptical orbit, which means they are not circular.
They can spend hundreds and thousands of years out in the depths of the Solar System before they return for their ‘perihelion’ – their closest approach to the Sun.
Comet Leonard, however, has a hyperbolic or orbit which means it will pass the Sun and be ejected into the Solar System. Earthlings won’t see it again.
Comet Leonard has already begun to show signs of a tail when it heats up as it approaches the inner solar system. Astronomers explained.
Comet C/2021 – A1 Leonard, February 12 Researchers may not be able to determine why it falls apart if it does.
Comet Leonard is likely to have spent 35,000 years traveling inbound, approximately 323 billion miles (352 billion km), and last visited the inner Solar System around 70,000 years ago.
Ye said that the first sign a comet is doomed is that it loses its ion tail – a stream of charged particles pointing from the comet in the direction opposite the sun.
‘Comets do all sorts of weird things – sometimes they disintegrate before reaching perihelion, sometimes after, and there are even hypotheses saying that comets can disintegrate when they’re farther out from the Sun,’ Ye said. “So, we will not know it until we witness it.”
Ye replied, “Why it’s disappearing, there are many hypotheses” The most obvious and simple one is that the comet is experiencing something unhealthy.
Space.com suggested that there could be a problem with the Sun’s vaporization of it. Another is that the gravitational tug of the Sun or a large planet could pull it apart.
Experts may not be able to determine why it might fall apart. Ye claimed that people will still be able enjoy something bright this month. It takes time for comets fully to disintegrate.
Comet Leonard is closest to Earth, on Sunday December 12th. This will occur just prior to its perihelion of January 3. The Comet Leonard will pass Earth approximately 21.7 Million miles from its home planet on Sunday.
The Planetary Society says that the comet, which will be visible in the evening sky in both hemispheres starting around December 14, will first appear before passing by Venus.
C/2021 (Leonard), the new comet, will approach Earth at its closest on December 12, 2021. It will pass our star and be released from the solar system in a hyperbolic orbit.
For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the best viewing time is on December 14, as the comet might be visible just after sunset.
Throughout the month, including Christmas Day, it may even be possible to spot the bright green iceball briefly in the evening shortly after sunset, astronomers say.
Because its interior of icy rocks heats up as it nears the sun, the comet’s green tail is due to this. First, the comet emits a blue dust and then, yellow, white, and finally, green.
If it changes to a teal-colored colour it indicates it is hot, has lots of diatomic carbon, and may be at the highest risk for breaking up.