Chinese telescope captures brightest comet of the year amid aurora borealis and meteors

The small Chinese satellite Yangwang 1 captured an incredible image of Leonard’s comet against the backdrop of aurora borealis and passing meteors. This comet was discovered in January this year, and on December 12, it flew as close to Earth as possible at a speed of 257 km / h. The last time a comet appeared in the inner solar system 70 thousand years ago and now will disappear again for a long time.

Comet Leonard is officially named C / 2021 A1 and is considered the brightest this year. In the northern hemisphere, the comet is visible to the naked eye. In the image taken by the Yangwang 1 apparatus, the comet itself with its elongated tail is clearly visible, as well as a meteor flying under it, the tracks of two satellites and the aurora.

The Yangwang 1 probe, owned by China’s Origin Space, was launched into space earlier this year to observe the Universe in the visible and ultraviolet ranges. One of his tasks is to find asteroids suitable for mining. This is the first private space mission in China, its data will be available to everyone for non-commercial use. Having been in orbit since June of this year, the device has already captured a whole gallery of impressive images. For example, in August, he recorded the northern lights over the South Pacific Ocean, which could not be observed from Earth. Among the next ambitious goals of Origin Space is landing on an asteroid in 2025.

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