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Amazing event: this is how you see comet “C / 2021 A1 Leonard” in the sky
Germany – The coming days could be a spectacle for viewers and stargazers. A comet and hundreds burn in the atmosphere meteors Projected in the morning and night sky over Germany.
This image of comet “C/2021 A1 Leonard” was taken using the new 60cm telescope at the Bayfordbury Observatory at the University of Hertfordshire. © University of Hertfordshire / D
Comet “C/2021 A1 Leonard” will reach its closest point to Earth at a distance of 34 million kilometers on Sunday morning and can even be recognized with the naked eye if the sky is clear if the weather and dawn are in harmony.
In the following days, the Gemini meteors will burn and appear in the hundreds in the night sky. The peak point is expected on Tuesday night, Sternfreunde president Sven Melchert, of dpa, said.
Comet Leonard is best seen on the eastern horizon on Sunday morning between six and seven, when dawn does not overlap with sunrise. They say, “This tail star won’t make a shining sight.” Friends star. But it should be easy to spot with binoculars or a telescope.
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But according to the German weather service Offenbach, there are probably only a few regions in Germany where there is a chance to catch a glimpse. A DWD spokesperson said the front was warm with rain from the west during the night. “There are a lot of clouds to come. Perhaps the highest chances are in the Allgäu, in the Alps or in Eastern Saxony.”
“This visit to Comet Leonard is not a bright celestial event, but it will be the only one for us,” said astronomer friends. After revolving around the sun in a wide arc, the celestial body will disappear in the vastness of space and will never return to the solar system.
C/2021 A1 Leonard was the first comet to be discovered this year on January 3rd. Seen by Gregory J. Leonard at Mount Lemon Observatory in Arizona, USA.
Comets come from the early days of our solar system
Seen over Germany in 2020: Comet Neuss, also called “C / 2020 F3”. © Patrick Bloll / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
Comets are billions of years old, and have arisen since the early days of our solar system. It is made up of a mixture of ice, dust and rocks. When a comet approaches the Sun, its core, which is only a few kilometers in size, begins to evaporate and form a dense cloud of dust and gas. The comet’s tail appears later.
Gemini, named after the constellation Gemini, can be a sight to behold. “With 150 meteors per hour, the Gemini River is considered the richest river of the year,” Melchert said. It is expected to reach its peak on the night of December 14. However, the moon does not set until after midnight, so that most dying meteors are visible in the morning, if true. weather plays along.
DWD doesn’t want to make any real predictions here. The forecast will see clouds and possibly fog as well. The spokesman said the greatest opportunities may remain in the higher elevations of the Black Forest or the Alps.
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According to Sternfreunde, if you want a chance to see the stars, you should look east in the evening. The constellation Gemini – from which Gemini appears to have originated – will then be over the south at night and northwest in the morning. According to the association, the twins actually rise in the evening hours in the eastern sky, so be with us all night long shooting stars Expected, even in the days after December 14th.
According to Astrological Friends, the fact that meteorites originate from the constellation Gemini is of course just a perspective effect. The reason for their occurrence is that the Earth is passing through a cosmic cloud of dust. This supposedly came from the little planet Phaethon, which may have broken through and left debris behind.
When they penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and can be seen as falling stars in the sky.
Banner photo: University of Hertfordshire / dpa
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