C/2021 A1, aka Comet Leonard, was identified by Greg Leonard, an astronomer with the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey. It's the 13th comet he has discovered.
Comet Leonard's closest approach to Earth was on December 12, passing by 21.7 million miles away. It then passed Venus on December 18 at a distance of 2.5 million miles. The comet passed by the Sun yesterday and if it endures the heat and radiation will exit the solar system permanently and not remain in orbit.
This photo was composed from 25 shots taken over 12 minutes by astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy from his backyard in Arizona.
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