Click the link below the picture
.
Leonard’s Comet, expected to be the brightest comet this year, should be the next sky-sighting on your bucket list. The moon has been keeping this comet washed out as it is much brighter than the space rock. There have been conflicting reports on social media over the past few days that the comet might have even disintegrated. Fear not: Leonard’s Comet is still there and was bright enough to be seen on cameras and through telescopes on Thursday, and it should remain bright enough to be seen over the next few weeks. When the solar system formed, not every piece of rock and ice made its way into a planet. These leftover pieces became comets, which now orbit the sun. The celestial rocks range from just a few miles to tens of miles wide. When one of the floating rocks gets close to the sun, it heats up enough that it spews gas and dust, leaving behind that familiar tail in the sky.
What is Leonard’s Comet?
Astronomer Gregory J. Leonard discovered this comet in early 2021, later named for him, at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in the Santa Catalina Mountains, northeast of Tucson, Arizona. When Leonard spotted the comet, it was extremely dim, out near Jupiter, and was just starting to release it’s heated up gas and dust. Leonard’s comet has spent roughly 35,000 years getting closer to our sun and has finally made its way closer to Earth’s neck of the universe. It’s expected to be the brightest comet of the year.
.
Leonard’s comet, not pictured, has spent roughly 35,000 years getting closer to our sun and has finally made its way closer to Earth’s neck of the universe. It’s expected to be the brightest comet of the year. Hans/Pixabay
.
.
Click the link below for the article:
.
__________________________________________
James' World 2 
Leave a comment