A SOLAR STORM WILL BARELY MISS EARTH: On Dec. 5th, a magnetic filament in the sun's southern hemisphere exploded. The swirling debris will probably sail just south of our planet on Dec. 10-11. No geomagnetic storms are expected, but the near miss could spark auroras around the poles. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
COMET LEONARD UPDATE: Comet Leonard (C/2021 A3) is approaching Earth for a close encounter (35 million km away) on Dec. 12th. Since Monday the comet has nearly tripled in brightness, now magnitude +5, making it an easy target for backyard telescopes. Amateur astronomer Tom Taylor sends this picture from Tucson, Arizona:
"Caught between tree limbs, Comet Leonard was a pleasant sight in binoculars," says Taylor. "The limbs offered a different framing for my Nikon D850 camera attached to a Tak FSQ 106 telescope."
Taylor had to shoot the comet through tree limbs because it is getting low in the pre-dawn sky. Comet Leonard is currently in the constellation Serpens diving toward the morning sun. The early hour and decreasing altitude can make Comet Leonard a challenge to photograph despite its growing brightness, but astronomers are getting good results.
The predicted light curve of Comet Leonard has it peaking between 4th and 5th magnitude on Dec. 12th. This is just above the threshold of naked-eye visibility. "You can see its existence with your unaided eyes," reports Yasushi Aoshima of Ishikawa, Japan, who photographed the comet above scudding snow clouds on Dec. 8th:
The full-sized version of his video shows airplanes criss-crossing the sky as well as the bright star Arcturus in the upper right.
Although Comet Leonard is techically a naked-eye object, it is not nearly as bright as last year's Comet NEOWISE. Pristine darkness is required to see the dim fuzzball. Sky watchers should should take binoculars as backup.
What's next? Six days after its close approach to Earth, Comet Leonard will pass by Venus even closer -- less than 4.3 million km away. On Dec. 18th, telescopes on Earth can see that flyby in the evening sky just after sunset. Comet Leonard sky maps: Dec. 10, 11, 12.
Realtime Comet Leonard Photo Gallery
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Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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