ESA: Comet Leonard will probably be visible to the naked eye in a few days

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Although not the “star of Bethlehem”, Comet Leonard will probably become visible even to the naked eye shortly after December 12, when it will have come closer to Earth, without posing any danger, according to European Space Agency (ESA), which released a picture of the comet from a telescope.

The photo is a composition of 90 images taken with the Spanish Calar Alto Schmidt telescope on December 7 by the Near-Earth Object Coordination Center (NEOCC), which is part of ESA’s Office of Planetary Defense. Apart from the comet’s luminous core, its long tail can also be seen.

The comet, which follows its orbit around the Sun, was traveling at about 47 kilometers per second when photographed. Its closest transit from Earth is expected on December 12, at 15:52 Greek time, when it will be at a safe distance of about 35 million kilometers.

So far, 3,775 comets are known in our solar system. These are frozen remnants of the initial phases of the formation of outer planets. As they move around our star, they occasionally approach the interior of the solar system, spewing particles and air that, as they are heated by solar radiation, produce their characteristic tail. These long tails remain in place even when a comet has moved away and when the Earth intersects with them, it receives periodic rains of falling stars.

Sometimes a comet’s orbit brings it relatively close to Earth (Near-Earth Comets or NECs). Such are those who complete a complete orbit around the Sun in a maximum of 200 years and reach the closest distance from our star to 1.3 astronomical units (such a unit is equal to the distance Earth-Sun). These comets are being closely monitored by ESA’s NEOCC center because – like nearby asteroids – they could fall to our planet with devastating consequences. Fortunately such close comets are rare and so far only 100 have been found, although one or two are added to the list each year.

Leonard is described by ESA as a rather typical comet. According to NEOCC astronomer Marco Micheli, “it is a relatively bright comet, one that we see in the sky on average once a year. As he approaches, he can be seen with the naked eye, allowing some beautiful photos of him to be taken. However, for us, who are worried about objects that could be a threat to the Earth, this comet fortunately does not have something spectacular “.

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