Comet Leonard May Become Naked-Eye Visible in December

[CentaurZ]

Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) is currently at magnitude +17.3. It might reach naked-eye visibility in December, but that is currently uncertain.

The comet will pass only 0.23 AU from Earth on 2021 DEC 12. It was discovered this year in early January by G. J. Leonard at the Mount Lemmon Observatory.

Photos and descriptions of the comet would be welcome additions to my similar thread in the forum for Observing-Widefield, Special Events & Comets.

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by CentaurZ

[HaleBopp2007]

It might reach naked eye visibility. It's still proportionally brighter than C/2020 F3, which by the way, was also insane. Even though it is still at magnitude 17, it has potential 

[Shimrod]

On 19/07/2021 at 11:52, HaleBopp2007 said:

It might reach naked eye visibility. It's still proportionally brighter than C/2020 F3, which by the way, was also insane. Even though it is still at magnitude 17, it has potential 

Unfortunately this is only above the horizon in the UK during daylight hours

[HaleBopp2007]

It will be perfectly visible in early December at sunrise from the entire northern hemisphere, including the UK

[Shimrod]

41 minutes ago, HaleBopp2007 said:

It will be perfectly visible in early December at sunrise from the entire northern hemisphere, including the UK

Yes, my mistake! I tracked in through on Starry Night, but I was skipping days - looks like  managed to skip the early part of December completely. Assuming it is bright enough, visible in the early hours from end of November through to around 10th December

[HaleBopp2007]

Two new reports that could be game changing! One of mag 16.2 in late July, and a mag 15.3 report a couple of days ago! 

PD: Light curve made by Gideon Van Buitenen 

[Craney]

Another naked eye comet, so soon after the Great Neowise.....

Should be called  Comet Ferrero-Rocher.  oh! you are spoiling us....

[HaleBopp2007]

I don't really know if A1 will be as good as F3 though... That thing was like a pool of caramel under dark skies! Let's wait and see! (no new observations yet) 

[HaleBopp2007]

There's been some recent observations... In the facebook 'Comet Watch' group, Michael Jager is estimating the comet to be mag. 13.5! It has a 4 arcmin long fan tail with a bright and condensed coma:

Also, this image is from a couple of days before, as haze worsened the most recent one (the mag 13.5 report) 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by HaleBopp2007

[Paul M]

It's definitely a morning object for the N hemisphere. Here is what Stellarium makes of my circumstances. (for some reason the months are marked in Roman Numerals). Marked at 5 day intervals because otherwise the early part of the track is too cluttered.

[Paul M]

I had a promising sky last night once the clouds dissapeared. But then the dew point became a problem. the sky was particularly milky and my view to the low NE sky was directly through the glow of industrial LED flood lights! Elevation was between 10 and 13 deg.

The gradient on the subs was, I thought so extreme that I'd wasted my time. Anyway, I got 7 x 180 sec with my 10" Newt and ASI071 Camera + Optolong L-Pro filter. Binned 3x3. Only calibration is flats.

Stacked, stretched, background equalised and comet annotation all done with ASTAP. 

I know it don't look pretty but I'm astounded by just what ASTAP pulled out of this data.!

[HaleBopp2007]

On 20/09/2021 at 21:18, Paul M said:

I had a promising sky last night once the clouds dissapeared. But then the dew point became a problem. the sky was particularly milky and my view to the low NE sky was directly through the glow of industrial LED flood lights! Elevation was between 10 and 13 deg.

The gradient on the subs was, I thought so extreme that I'd wasted my time. Anyway, I got 7 x 180 sec with my 10" Newt and ASI071 Camera + Optolong L-Pro filter. Binned 3x3. Only calibration is flats.

Stacked, stretched, background equalised and comet annotation all done with ASTAP. 

I know it don't look pretty but I'm astounded by just what ASTAP pulled out of this data.!

That's a good one! Now the first visual reports are coming, and the comet seems to have reached the 12th magnitude... If this trend continues we could get a decent naked eye spectacle for some days

[Paul M]

After a very promising start last night, the clouds rolled in and parked right in front of my target area so it was a struggle but I got 7 subs through the murk and stretched them to death. A shame really, soon after I packed up it was crystal clear and I think this comet is just waking up too.

[Laurieast]

On 18/09/2021 at 09:27, Paul M said:

Here is what Stellarium makes of my circumstances. (for some reason the months are marked in Roman Numerals). Marked at 5 day intervals because otherwise the early part of the track is too cluttered.

@Paul M If it's not too complicated and time consuming, could I ask how you got it to display time stamps on the track? I have been trying for a week now with Ceres, I can get a track using the latest data from MPC, but I just cannot figure out how to time stamp it! 

Thanks!

[Paul M]

5 hours ago, Laurieast said:

@Paul M If it's not too complicated and time consuming, could I ask how you got it to display time stamps on the track? I have been trying for a week now with Ceres, I can get a track using the latest data from MPC, but I just cannot figure out how to time stamp it! 

Thanks!

It's easy when you know how

It's done in the Astronomical calculations module and then click the "ephemeris" tab. See my screen grab. I selected Comet Leonard and the required dates. You can select how frequently it displays date points. Then when you have finished selecting your options just click on calculate. For some reason it shows the month as a Roman Numeral. That might be configurable somewhere.

 

[ItsmeMaw]

Hope I get a chance to see this one.

[Paul M]

44 minutes ago, ItsmeMaw said:

Hope I get a chance to see this one.

As you'll see from the finder charts I've posted, it really picks up speed from late November onward so the window of opportunity to see it at its best for northern hemisphere observers is quite narrow. It disappears into twilight as it heads to perihelion but I have a good feeling about this one

[Paul M]

Playing with HNSky just now I noticed that at 04:30 on 3rd Dec the comet will pass through the outer parts of M3 globular cluster. The comet is likely to be a fairly bright but fast moving target. images will have to be short exposures to capture both objects. My animation starts soon after M3 rises but by closest approach it should be very accessible.

My only problem is that I'm in work at 06:30 and I can't see the east from home. If the weather looks promising I might find a spot at my work to set up out of the way in the early hours

 

 

[Laurieast]

21.30 on 24th November looks interesting, but below the horizon I now realise 🤫

Edited November 7, 2021 by Laurieast

[Malpi12]

If I tick "Use horizontal  coordinates" in the Stellarium calculator I think it gives me the comet position ref. my horizon.
In which case it will look like this (lat 50, E - NE ) at 4am 8Nov through to 10Dec. And it is going to have to brighten rapidly if I am to see anything of it ! 

PS the altitude numbers are unlike stellarium because I forgot to include them and had to add by hand in Gimp ! !

 

 

Edited to add :-

This is a better way of showing it,  daily from 8Nov to 10Dec  lat. 50ish.:- 

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Malpi12

[HaleBopp2007]

We have the ion tail, everyone! (image by Michael Jager) 

[Jonk]

If the weather plays ball, I might try and capture this passing M3...need lots of luck on my side though.

[JeremyS]

There’s are article about observing prospects for this comet on the BAA website: https://britastro.org/node/26346

[Tim]

Thanks for the updates. It was comets that got me interested in astrophotography, though I've never been any good at shooting them 😜 

[scotty1]

The weather in the UK is looking quite rough for comet spotting.

We did have clear skies Sunday, but a full moon too!

I got a couple of shots with my DSLR. I hope to get Leonard again in December.

I've set my alarm for 4am, incase the clearing skies now over Linc's make  it to east Anglia. 

Edit: 7am

Luckily the sky cleared at 05.15, had 45 mins before the dawn. Taking short exposures on static tripod, as expected the comet is brighter with more tail showing, compared to last Sunday. Now with less moonlight it's helping to show the comet off.

What size is this comet? 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by scotty1