A comet that was discovered earlier this year is expected to fly by Earth next week on its journey through the solar system, and it will be the only chance you’ll ever get to observe the celestial object.
Comet Leonard, also known as C/2021, will make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 12, according to NASA. The comet was discovered earlier this year by astronomer Gregory Leonard, hence its name.
According to KTLA5, EarthSky describes C/2021 A as “likely to be 2021’s best comet, and its brightest comet by year’s end.” USA Today reported that Robert Lunsford with the American Meteor Society told USA TODAY the comet won’t be the most spectacular one ever but will be “the brightest comet this year.”
With the help of binoculars and telescopes, people across the country can already begin to spot it in the sky, and it won’t be long before people can view the comet with the naked eye for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Although recently discovered, the comet won’t be sticking around for long.
Astrophysicist and founder of The Virtual Telescope Project Gianluca Masi told USA TODAY Leonard is a long-period comet, meaning it doesn’t come around often. In fact, the comet hasn’t passed by Earth in over 70,000 years, and after it passes by the sun, it will be ejected from our solar system, never to be seen on Earth again.
NPR stated: Here’s how to see it: “The comet is in the early morning sky right at the moment, and that means getting up very early, probably around 5 a.m. or so and looking more or less to the northeast,” Ed Krupp, an astronomer and the director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, tells NPR.
For people in North America, the best time will probably be Monday morning — weather permitting — when the comet will be near Arcturus, low on the horizon. The star is in the constellation Boötes (the Herdsman).
There’s an easy way to find it: Follow the curve of the Big Dipper (in Ursa Major) out past the end of the handle. The next bright star you see will be Arcturus. A good memory aid is to remember that from the Dipper handle, you “arc to Arcturus.”
