                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2021 November 21

                          Introducing Comet Leonard
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

   Explanation: Here comes Comet Leonard. Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) was
   discovered as a faint smudge in January 2021 when it was out past Mars
   -- but its orbit will take the giant shedding ice-ball into the inner
   Solar System, passing near both Earth and Venus in December before it
   swoops around the Sun in early January 2022. Although comets are
   notoriously hard to predict, some estimations have Comet Leonard
   brightening to become visible to the unaided eye in December. Comet
   Leonard was captured just over a week ago already sporting a
   green-tinged coma and an extended dust tail. The featured picture was
   composed from 62 images taken through a moderate-sized telescope -- one
   set of exposures tracking the comet, while another set tracking the
   background stars. The exposures were taken from the dark skies above
   the Eastern Sierra Mountains, near June Lake in California, USA. Soon
   after passing near the Earth in mid-December, the comet will shift from
   northern to southern skies.

    APOD Editor (RJN) Online Monday: NASA's Best Space Images (& Videos)
                      Tomorrow's picture: moon building
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