Passage of comet Leonard can be observed from Earth

There’s a new comet approaching, and December is your only chance to see it before it’s gone for good. Experts say Leonard — as he’s called — is the best and brightest seen in 2021.

The body was first discovered in January by astronomer Greg Leonard. The celestial object probably spent the last 35,000 years traveling towards the Sun, according to Sky & Telescope. However, once you pass close to our star on January 3rd, you will not be able to see it again.

As the comet gets closer to the Sun, it shines brighter, which is why the weeks leading up to this event make it easy to see.

It is also ultra-fast, traversing the solar system at 71 kilometers per second, but will still appear as a slow-moving object due to its distance from Earth, according to EarthSky.

Leonard will approach Earth on December 12, reaching 34 million kilometers from our planet. He will then be pushed by Venus on December 18th. The comet will be visible in the skies of the Northern and Southern hemispheres this month.

There’s no telling how good our visualization of Leonard will be, so you’ll probably need binoculars to locate him, according to NASA. Look for an object that looks like a fuzzy star.

“In the first weeks of December, Leonard can be found in the east before dawn, passing between Arcturus — the brightest star in the constellation Boieiro and Cape Ursa Major — constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere,” the agency said in a post.”

It approaches the horizon at the time of its closest pass to Earth, which means it will likely be brighter but harder to observe. Leonard then becomes a nocturnal object around December 14, shortly after sunset—when he begins his long journey away from the Sun again, gradually losing its glow.”

Like comets near the Sun, these giant ice balls begin to shed some of their material, which forms a halo, or coma, around the object. Dust and gas come out from behind comets — which make their extremely long tails. Most of these bodies originate from the frigid edge of our solar system, and they only become visible to us as they travel closer to the cosmos, where Earth is located.

It’s possible that Comet Leonard is visible to the naked eye, but if you’re worried about missing out on this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the Virtual Telescope Project will be sharing a live stream at the observatory in Rome.