This year's brightest comet has been a bit tricky to spot using the human eye down on this planet, although the Solar Orbiter spacecraft of the European Space Agency and NASA got the perfect view.
As specified in a CNET report, the two space agencies exhibited a "spectacular view" of Comet Leonard on its way to the sun.
Yesterday, ESA released a movie that featured Comet Leonard, also called "Christmas comet," as it's seen zipping along in space.
This is more than just the comet, which space news reports have it, is half a mile in width, and made dust, ice, and rock, on display.
Essentially, the Milky Way is making for a sparkling backdrop, and planets like Mercury and Venus appear in the upper-right hand corner, from which the latter-mentioned is the brighter one.
A picture taken on February 7, 2020, shows the main control room of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Darmstadt, western Germany
The Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager
SoloHi for short, the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager instrument on the spacecraft is delivering the images that went into the video.
In a statement, ESA said when SoloHi recorded the said images, the comet was roughly between the sun and the spacecraft, with its gas and dust tails that point towards the spacecraft. Specifically, the footage is tracked Comet Leonard from December 17 to 19, 2021.
The SoloHi launched last year to kick off a decade-long journey to investigate the sun and for the first time, image the polar regions of the star. More so, the said ESA and NASA spacecraft will continue monitoring Comet Leonard until December 22.
As earlier mentioned, the comet is headed toward a "close pass" of the sun, and its fate remains uncertain, which is making the action shots of the Solar orbiter all the more affecting.
Describing the Christmas-time comet, ESA said if it does not break or collapse, the comet's trajectory will throw it into interstellar space, never to go back.
Comet Leonard
An EarthSky report said that Comet Leonard, also known as the best, not to mention the brightest comet, is currently seen in the evening sky for the Northern Hemisphere observers to witness.
In mid-December, it was reported that from December 19 to 20 the comet would have had brightened more than it was expected. It was said to be having outbursts as it came close to its nearest point to the sun next month.
New December 20 reports also specified that the comet's tail is a little bigger and thus it is recommended for the observers to watch it this week.
To Orbit the Sun in Early January
Comet Leonard will circle the sun at perihelion early next month, at an approximately 56-million- mile distance. Typically, comets are said to be the brightest around perihelion, and this comet has been brightening and remains getting brighter.
More so, as recent activities have it, there is always the probability of brightness explosions as Comet Leonard approaches nearer and nearer the sun.
Essentially, this comet was discovered at the beginning of this year by Greg Leonard, giving it its name. it has been much-anticipated, and it is turning out to be a very fine object worthy to view from down the Earth.
Recent report about Comet Leonard is shown on Space.com's YouTube video below:
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