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Comet Leonard: How to see it from Mexico after 80 thousand years of absence?

Comet passing has always captivated the world whole and now an astronomical event of those proportions will leave humanity breathless, for Comet Leonard, a space object made of ice, will illuminate the celestial vault after 80 thousand years, so you cannot miss it, since it will take the same time to be seen again from our planet.

Leonard was first detected on January 3, 2021, thanks to astronomer Gregory J. Leonard, who used the telescope at the Mount Lemmon Observatory, at the University of Arizona, United States. Leonard was discovered as a faint spot in January 2021, when he was beyond Mars. But its orbit will take it close to Earth and Venus in December, before it approaches the Sun in early January 2022 ,? NASA explained in a statement.

Since when and where could it be seen?

Some experts maintain that it can be seen from today in some parts of the world, without the need to use instruments such as telescopes. But “it is difficult to predict when and how bright a comet will appear, because we do not know how much dust and gas it will emit. This can vary from day to day, and it is what controls the amount of sunlight that is scattered and reflected back towards us, “NASA said.

The US agency assured that all over the world it can be observed with the naked eye, but if not, with a telescope it will be very easy to see it. In Mexico it is recommended to go out to see the sky between 05:00 and 05:30 hours, also around 7:54 the star will reach its perigee, which is the point of its orbit closest to our planet. The highest recommendation is to be in a place with dark skies, away from the light pollution of the big cities, and with a clear horizon.

The easiest way to locate it is to look towards the Big Dipper; If you don’t know what it is, you can always download an application to find out what the constellations are. Although its brightness will progressively increase and the maximum brightness will occur between December 13 and 14, according to NASA.

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