THE GEMINID METEOR SHOWER IS UNDERWAY: Earth has entered a stream of debris from rock comet 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Last night, Dec. 12-13, NASA cameras recorded 46 Geminid fireballs over the USA. Many more are coming. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Dec. 13-14 with as many as 100 meteors/hour visible from dark sky sites. Observing tips.
THE BRIGHTEST COMET OF THE YEAR: Yesterday, Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) passed by Earth only 35 million km away, making it the "brightest comet of the year." But what a difference a year makes. Romanian astrophotographer Maximilian Teodorescu created this composite image of Comet Leonard alongside last year's brightest comet, NEOWISE:
Left: Comet NEOWISE in July 2020. Right: Comet Leonard in Dec. 2021.
"I drove 120 miles to find clear skies for Comet Leonard at its closest approach," says Teodorescu. "I could barely see the comet with the naked eye; I estimate its visual magnitude was +5."
"The setup for my photo session was basically the same as I used back in July 2020 for Comet NEOWISE, so I got the idea to compare the two comets. It might not be 100% true as a comparison mostly because of slight differences in sky conditions. Nevertheless, I think this image serves as a good indicator for just how variable comets are, and that what we are now considering the 'brightest comet of the year' is nothing close to last year's 'brightest comet.'"
Realtime Comet Leonard Photo Gallery
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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