See pictures of comet Leonard approaching the sun – science

Spaceships on a mission around SolManaged by NASA and for space agency The European Union (ESA) provides beautiful images of a kite
C / 2021 A1, better known as Leonard, a superfast piece of rock, dust and ice currently traveling through the solar system.

Comets usually appear out of nowhere, or more precisely, from the Oort cloud. This is the case of Leonard, which became visible to astronomers in early January of this year, as the US website Gizmodo explains.

Leonard will continue to make “visits” to Earth’s Neighborhood for some time, but not that long. The comet is rapidly approaching perihelion, the closest distance from the sun along its orbit, the site shows, causing it to glow and have a dusty, gaseous tail. However, they wear out over the years.

In addition, C/2021 A1 is currently very weak and can only be seen from Earth through telescopes or binoculars.

Leonard’s closest approach will occur on January 3, at which time it will be 144 million kilometers from the sun, Gizmodo says.

If it does not disintegrate, it will begin the 35,000-year long journey to the edge of the solar system.

The flight of Comet Leonard is also reported by space telescopes, specifically the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-A (stereo-a), which is operated by NASA, and Solar Orbiter, a joint venture between NASA and the European Space Agency.