Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory evaluate early data from the Solar Orbiter as it observes comet Leonard, a mass of space dust, rock and ice just over half a mile across.
The comet Leonard is seen streaking across the field of view in the images captured between December 17 and 19 by the Solar Orbiter. Venus and Mercury are visible in the top right, with Venus moving from left to right.
The comet was between the Sun and the spacecraft when the images were recorded, according to Karl Battams. As the viewing angle at which we see the comet increases, our view of both of the tails improves.
The comet is being looked at by two platforms, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and theParker Solar Probe, which can give us a lot of information about the tail and solar outflows.
Robin Colaninno, an astronomer and a soloHIPI at the NRL, said they hope to use the two views from Solar Orbiter and STEREO to get a 3D structure and velocity. The comet's tail changes give us insight into the solar winds.
The comet was captured by the HI-2 telescope, which has been watching it since early November. The difference image was created by subtracting the current frame from the previous frame to highlight the differences between them. Difference images can be used to see subtle changes in Leonard's ion tail, which becomes longer and brighter at the end of the clip. Karl Battams is a NASA/NRL employee.
Records from before and during planet formation can be found in the remnants of the swarm of planetesimals that formed the solar system.
Gregory Leonard, a senior research specialist at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, discovered the comet Leonard. Leonard saw the comet in the pictures. The Lemmon Skycenter is in Arizona.
There has been a lot of discussion about this comet.
"Many people reported a big change in their behavior in the last 24 hours, with some of them saying it was an outburst after the SoloHI images," Battams said. The comet is becoming unhappy, and these outbursts could be the beginning of a slow and fatal disruption. It's too early to say for sure, but it could be letting off steam.
The comet will leave its field of view in December. The comet will pass within 56 million miles of the Sun in January of 2021. Current calculations show that if it doesn't fall, it will be sent out into space and never come back to our solar system.
There are stunning views of 'Christmas comet' Leonard fly by by on December 28, 2021.
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