NASA shared this stunning photograph of Comet Leonard flying behind NASA’s James Webb Space telescope launch plume.
NASA’s Astronomy Pic of the Day featured this amazing shot from Thailand. The foreground shows DoiInthanon National Park and a pagoda.
James Webb Space Telescope, launched Christmas Day, is currently traveling a mile to reach solar orbit. This journey is estimated to last around one month.
Comet Leonard was discovered only in January and is currently making its closest approach in about 70,000 years to Earth.
NASA shared this stunning photograph of Comet Leonard flying behind NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launch plume.
NASA explained, “Which of these two streaks are a comet?” Both have similar features to comets, but the lower one is the real comet.
“The lower streak is Comet Leonard’s tail and coma. This block of rocky, city-sized ice passes through the Inner Solar System during its spiraling orbit around Sun.
Comet Leonard made its closest approach recently to Earth and will circle the Sun next week.
NASA said that the comet was still visible with an unaided eye but it has been developing a longer and more complex tail.
“In contrast, however, the upper streak represents the launch plume from the Ariane V rocket which lifted the James Webb Space Telescope(JWST), off the Earth on February 2, 2012.”
Comet Leonard’s nearest pass to the Sun will be on January 3, 2022. It will reach 56 million mile of our star. That is roughly half the distance from Earth and the Sun.
If it doesn’t disintegrate on its way to the Sun, then Comet Leonard’s trajectory will fling it into interstellar space, never to return.
However, scientists believe that the organism may be disintegrating less than one year after its first discovery. Or, they will split soon.
A comet is heated up when its orbit closes to the Sun. It spews gases and dust into a huge glowing head that is larger than any other planets.
The bright green Comet Leonard speeds past Earth in the video captured by two satellites that were designed to see the sun.
China’s satellite captured an amazing view of Comet Leonard from the closest approach to Earth. There was also a visible Aurora in the background.
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.
They orbit the Sun in an extremely elliptical orbit, which means they aren’t perfectly circular.
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 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.
Comet Leonard came closest to Earth before it perihelioned on January 3.
Because its interior of icy rocks heats up closer to the Sun it emits a blue dust first, followed by yellow, white, and then finally green.
It will turn this teal color if it does. This indicates that the comet has reached its maximum temperature, is rich in cyanide, and is most likely to burst.