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Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett
Explanation:
Comet Leonard is now visible to the unaided eye -- but just barely.
Passing nearest to the Earth today, the comet is
best seen this week soon after sunset, toward the west, low on the horizon.
Currently
best visible in
the north,
by late December the comet will best be seen from south of
Earth's equator.
The featured image of
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) was taken a week ago from
California,
USA.
The deep exposure
shows in great detail the comet's
green
gas
coma and developing
dust tail.
The comet -- across our inner
Solar System and only light-minutes away -- was
captured passing
nearly in front of
globular star cluster
M3.
In contrast,
M3 is about 35,000 light-years away.
In a week, Comet Leonard will
pass unusually close to Venus, but will
continue on and be at its
closest to the Sun in early January.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet - M 3
Publications with words: comet - M 3
See also:
- APOD: 2025 February 5 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
- APOD: 2025 February 2 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
- APOD: 2025 January 28 Á Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
- APOD: 2025 January 26 Á The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS
- Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope
- APOD: 2025 January 21 Á Comet ATLAS over Brasilia
- APOD: 2025 January 20 Á Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun