SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Mike Olason
Location of Photo:
Tucson, Arizona
Date/Time of photo:
10 October 2021, 1204 UT
Equipment:
11" SCT and STF-8300M Camera
Description:
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) may be the next comet that we can see with only our eyes if it brightens from magnitude 5 to 4 as predicted the first 12 days of December as it passes only 21 million miles from Earth on December 12. In the Northern Hemisphere on December 1 the comet will be in the east at about an altitude of 50 degrees before twilight and by December 12 the comet will still be in the east but just above the horizon in twilight skies. Find an online sky map to tell you exactly where the comet will be and when from your home on these mornings in early December, Sky and Telescope I am sure will have such information. A pair of binoculars should show the comet nicely. After December 12 the comet will not be visible for most in the Northern Hemisphere. In these images Comet Leonard is magnitude 12 and brightening as expected, it has a nice coma and a fan tail above the coma.
