{"id":2817,"date":"2021-11-30T21:08:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T21:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/main_spa1\/comet\/?p=2817"},"modified":"2021-11-30T21:08:15","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T21:08:15","slug":"comet-c-2021-a1-leonard-the-latest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/comet\/2021\/11\/30\/comet-c-2021-a1-leonard-the-latest\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet C\/2021 A1 LEONARD – the latest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yesterday there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth online as word started to go around that Comet A1 Leonard was dead, or at least dying. This was based on a couple of images which appeared to show the comet’s head had developed an “anvil” or “hammerhead” shape, instead of being rounded. Why did this lead to such an outburst of pessimism? Because when some promising comets have done this in the past it has been a sign that they were starting to disintegrate and fall apart, and were destined to fizzle out and fade away before reaching their best, and they did indeed do just that shortly after. But in the case of A1 Leonard it was declared dead with quite unjustified haste, as people added two and two and got fifty. Images taken over the past day or so show the comet is healthy and just about brightening on track to become a naked eye comet in December – NOT another F3 NEOWISE, but pretty and interesting to look at, at least. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So… if you haven’t already, it’s time you started looking for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll need to get up in the early hours to see it at its best, and these very simple charts I’ve made will show you where to look for it around 5am – that is, if you’re living in the UK. If you live elsewhere you can still use the charts to see where the comet is in relation to the stars of the Big Dipper\/Plough, or you can use an astronomy app on your phone or tablet, or a planetarium program like “Stellarium” on your computer, or an online planetarium website to show you where the comet will be in the sky above where you live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Moon FINALLY out of the way (I thought it was never going to leave!) the comet should be visible in a pair of binoculars now, and small telescopes should pock it up easily too. Just be aware that it is still very small and quite faint, nothing like lovely NEOWISE F3 was during that memorable summer which seems a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the charts – good luck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yesterday there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth online as word started to go around that Comet A1 Leonard was dead, or at least dying. This was based on a couple of images which appeared to show the comet’sRead more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comet-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t