The very first comet discovered this year, Comet Leonard, is visible in the sky this week, and could be bright enough by the weekend to spot with the unaided eye. Be sure to catch it soon, though. Some unusual behaviour from the comet may indicate that it could be in its final days.
There’s a very cool sight to see in the eastern sky before sunrise this week.
For those who have clear, dark skies, get outside with your binoculars or telescope on any morning for the rest of this week and look towards the eastern horizon in the few hours before dawn. If you peer closely at the constellation Serpens (between Hercules and Libra), you may spot a new visitor to our skies — Comet Leonard.
The position of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) on the mornings of December 9 to 12, 2021. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
The above graphic shows the comet’s position in the sky at around 6:30 a.m. local time for the rest of this week. The timing of when the comet rises changes morning by morning, though. It crests the horizon at around 4:30 a.m. on December 10, 5:10 a.m. on December 11, and 6:05 a.m. on December 12. By the 13th, the comet will be lost in the morning glow of the Sun.
Each morning, though, the comet is expected to progressively brighten so that, by Sunday morning, you may not need binoculars or a telescope to see it!
There’s one detail to note, however: city light pollution will make it more difficult to spot this comet. So, for best viewing, it would be in the best interest of city-dwellers to take a short trip outside of city limits.
Watch below: Want to escape urban light pollution? Here are some tips…
Watch for the comet to return in the evening on Monday, December 13, visible in the southwestern sky, very close to the horizon. On the evening of December 16, it will line up with Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus, making it easier to find.
Comet Leonard’s position in the evening sky, at around 5:45 p.m. local time, on December 16, 2021. Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter form an alignment with the comet at this time. Credit: Stellarium
WHAT IS COMET LEONARD?
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard), the first comet discovered this year, was spotted by astronomer Greg Leonard, using the Mount Lemmon Observatory, on January 3, 2021. At the time, this kilometre-wide chunk of ice, dust, and rock was just inside the orbit of Jupiter and headed inbound towards the Sun.
Over the past 11 months or so, astronomers have been watching Comet Leonard with great interest as it continued its dive through the inner solar system. Some have been capturing some truly amazing images as it has drawn closer to Earth.
This closeup of Comet Leonard was imaged on December 3, 2021, by Dan Bartlett, from June Lake, California. Also visible in the image is Globular Cluster M3. (Used with permission)
The comet is expected to reach its closest distance to Earth on the morning of December 12. At that time, it will be roughly 35 million kilometres away from us.
That’s actually fairly close to the planet Venus, and by December 18, it will have gotten even closer to our planetary neighbour, passing by at a distance of around 4 million km.
Astronomer Gregg Ruppel captured this view of Comet Leonard on December 8, 2021, from Animas, NM. (Used with permission)
According to what astronomer Jonti Horner from the University of Southern Queensland told ABC News Australia, that is the closest any comet has come to Venus in recorded history.
The comet is expected to reach perihelion — its closest distance to the Sun — on January 3, 2022, exactly one year after its discovery. However, that’s only if it survives that long.
This colour close-up of the comet was produced by superimposing 90 different 5-second images, combining their collective brightness to bring out the details. The background stars are shown as multicolour dashed lines due to the three filters the astronomers used when imaging the comet. The individual images were captured on the morning of 7 December 2021, using the Calar Alto Schmidt telescope in Spain. Credit: ESA/NEOCC
FOR THE LAST TIME?
Although Comet Leonard is putting on a good show for astronomers now, it appears to be dimming, and that could be bad news.
Comets get brighter in our sky for two reasons: 1) because they get closer to us, and 2) because they get closer to the Sun.
The first is simple physics. Any celestial object — a planet, moon, asteroid or comet — will get brighter as we draw closer to it, because we receive more of the light the object reflects. Conversely, it will get dimmer as it gets farther away.
The second is due to the comet’s activity. Comets are large chunks of ice mixed with rock and dust. As one approaches the Sun, sunlight heats its surface, causing the ices to turn directly into gas. This forms a cloud of gas and dust around the comet core, which is known as the coma. The coma can be many times the size of the nucleus, which greatly increases the amount of sunlight reflected from the comet, making the comet intrinsically brighter. Typically, the closer the comet is to the Sun, the more active it is, and the brighter it looks.
The combination of these two factors determines how bright the comet should look in our skies at any time.
According to astronomer Quanzhi Ye, an expert on comets and asteroids at the University of Maryland, the only reason Comet Leonard is currently growing brighter for us is because it is still getting closer to Earth. When it comes to the intrinsic brightness, due to the comet’s activity, it is actually growing dimmer.
“The comet should be brighter and brighter,” Ye told Space.com. “If it’s not getting brighter then something’s wrong, but we don’t know exactly what at this stage.”
There are a few reasons for a comet to dim. Some, like 2003 EH1, the source of the Quadrantid meteor shower, have passed around the Sun so many times that they exhaust their supply of ices. Thus their coma fades away. However, the simplest reason, according to Ye, is that something may have gone wrong with the comet.
Along with the increased activity from the comet as it draws closer to perihelion, also comes increased stresses on the nucleus’ structure. If those stresses become too much — and how much is “too much” varies from comet to comet — it could just shatter.
This is exactly what happened to Comet ATLAS in 2020. First discovered late in December 2019, C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) dimmed noticeably in early April, just as it approached the same distance Earth is from the Sun. It was confirmed shortly after that the comet had fractured into multiple pieces. Ye was the researcher who led the study of these fragments, using the Hubble Space Telescope.
So, as we watch this comet in the days ahead, there is the possibility that it may disintegrate before our eyes.
Even if the comet does survive this pass around the Sun, though, this may still be the last time anyone in this solar system sees it!
This graphic shows the orbital path of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) through the solar system. Credit: ESA
Astronomers estimate that it has taken Comet Leonard around 40,000 years to make the trip from the outer solar system to this close pass around the Sun. So, if it returns, it will be another 80,000 years before anyone who happens to be on Earth can see it. However, it’s possible that this comet may never return.
Based on calculations of its orbit, as Comet Leonard whips around the Sun, it is expected to pick up enough speed to be ejected from our solar system. Essentially, unless the it disintegrates, it will likely become an interstellar comet, similar to 2019’s Comet Borisov!
So, we better get out to see this comet now, if we can. One way or another, it will be the last time anyone here sees this celestial visitor.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
Comet Leonard’s position in the evening sky, at around 5:45 p.m. local time, on December 16, 2021. Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter form an alignment with the comet at this time. Credit: Stellarium
This closeup of Comet Leonard was imaged on December 3, 2021, by 
Astronomer 
This colour close-up of the comet was produced by superimposing 90 different 5-second images, combining their collective brightness to bring out the details. The background stars are shown as multicolour dashed lines due to the three filters the astronomers used when imaging the comet. The individual images were captured on the morning of 7 December 2021, using the Calar Alto Schmidt telescope in Spain. Credit: ESA/NEOCC
This graphic shows the orbital path of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) through the solar system. Credit: ESA
