Comet Leonardo: It will “wipe” the Earth and can be seen with the naked eye this weekend

Comet C/2021A1, christened Leonardo by its discoverer, Gregory J. Leonard, can be seen in South America In mid-December, between the twelfth and fourteenth, when it is at its closest to Earth.

What day will we see comet Leonardo?

Scientists have not been able to say when it will reach its peak because the dust and gas emitted from it are so unpredictable. As stated in a NASA post.

“There is a possibility that – at the time – it will be bright enough to see with the naked eye but with comets you never know, unfortunately,” the experts say in the agency article.

According to astronomers, in the first two weeks of December, Comet Leonard will be east of the horizon before sunrise. During those days it will be much brighter and therefore more difficult to notice.

From December 14, it will become an evening object, since it will be visible shortly after sunset. The comet will reflect its position from north to southNASA explains, so that South American countries can see it near the western horizon line.

Comet Leonardo broadcast online

How was Leonardo’s comet discovered?

Leonardo has been revealed For the first time at the Mount Lemon Observatory, located in Arizona, on January 3. At that time, the light was weak, its magnitude 19, which is 160,000 times weaker than the least bright stars that can be seen without a telescope.

Gregory discovered it when it was five astronomical units from the sun near Jupiter. The astronomical unit has a length of 149,565 million km and represents the average distance between the Earth and the Sun.

comet It travels in a very long flat elliptical curve that makes its greatest distance from the Sun at 3,500 AU – 523 billion km.

Since the comet travels in a closed orbit, it may have passed close to the sun about 70,000 years ago. This means that its surface can be covered with highly volatile substances, such as nitrogen, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. The ice evaporates away from the sun, generating a greater brightness in the comet, a brightness that dims as it approaches.